Snow the Winged Girl
by iluviggyhesthebest
Summary: So, basically when I read Maximum Ride, I loved it but I freaking wish I had been there because they made some pretty bad decisions. So I basically made myself into a bird kid. It basically follows the usual story but there are some changes because of "Snow's" decisions for the flock.
1. THE BEGINNING

I was only a baby. Only a baby when I woke up in a strange place, which was not my home. My parents were gone. I didn't know where I was. I began to cry. A man in a white lab coat yelled "Subject 47 is crying again!" Again? Why can't I remember-And then everything went black.

Three years old now. Big enough to crawl around. Big enough to see my two foot long wings, pure white except for the tan tips on the edges. I knew they were watching me. The people in white lab coats. They watched me all the time. One of them stared at me through the glass.

"Its wings are so pure white, like snow…" her voice trailed off. The other one nodded. They looked at me in wonder and I thought that snow must be a good thing. I had wanted a name for a while. I would call myself Snow. And so I did.

Some years passed. I was only six at the time. I was sleeping in my small room, when all the alarms went off. It jolted me awake. The scientists ran around, yelling.

"Six of our experiments…they just escaped!" People ran around in panic.

"Track them down," a scientist ordered one of their experiments. A wolf creature. It nodded and ran off, with others. I didn't know what was happening but I hoped whoever got away from here got to stay away. I didn't like this place. The next day, they started the tests. A scientist came into my room. He glared at me as I shrunk back. He grabbed me and lifted me into the air.

I whimpered, as he said "You! Come with me!" It's not like I had a choice. He dragged me down the hall. I didn't know whether or not to struggle. They put me on a surgery table. A few more scientists came in. They conversed quietly, but I heard some of their conversation.

"She could track them-Similar DNA-she needs to overpower them-that's why we're doing this!" The first scientist came over. He smiled evilly.

"Let the tests begin," he smiled, and that started the first five years of the worst time of my life. Twenty hours a day, every day, they injected me with something. Twisted my DNA. Cut out some of my brain. I don't even know. All I know is that I was a lab animal, and I couldn't get anyway. I never saw the sun. I slept only two hours every day. And I wanted to die.

"Please, please, please let me die!" I pleaded every day. But they ignored me and slapped me. The worst day was when they tested my new "self-healing." They put me out in the courtyard, with all the beasts. I called them "K9's" because that's what they were. Dog beasts.. I was tied to a chair. It didn't matter. I didn't possess the strength to fight, anyway. They circled around me, their yellow fangs showing. I shuddered. A scientist nodded at them.

"Attack."

And then they came. They ripped a deep cut through my leg. They ripped through my shirt,(Perverts) and ripped deep gashes in my stomach. I screamed, so loud people a state away could hear me, but no one helped me. After five minutes, I was soaked in my own blood. I was sobbing, but no one helped me. After five minutes, they called off the K9s. They glared at me.

"Heal, you little bitch," one of them said. I tried to heal. I didn't know how. Would it naturally happen, or did I have to do something to activate it? I passed out from blood loss. When I woke up, I had scars where they slashed me. On my leg and on my stomach. But I was alive. I passed out again.


	2. GOODBYE LAB HELLO FREEDOM BABY!

I'm 13 now. With me, I carry the scars,(literally and metaphorically) of my past years. Still stuck in a dog cage. Still guarded by a K9. Still never seen the sunlight. Well, my life sucks.

"Hey yo furry dude," I say to the K9. He growls at me in response.  
"It's pretty fucking boring in here," I say to him. "What do you do for fun?"

He picks up my cage and throws it across the room in response. It barely hurt. Yay scientists for messing up my DNA. "Well someone's got anger issues," I reply, rolling my eyes in annoyance. He scowls, which makes me laugh. What can I say? It's funny. You try having fun when you're stuck in a dog cage with only a wolf hybrid guard as company and oh yeah, scientists who like to mess up your DNA. I read his mind, because he won't talk to me anymore.

"Eat….." Wow. My mind is blown.  
Oh yeah, I can read minds. And fight. And I'm insanely strong. And I can impersonate any voice. And a lot of other stuff. Yep, I know. I'm amazing. Suddenly, some scientists ran into the room.

"We need it," they quickly said, out of breath. I sized them up.

"Oh my gosh, did you run all the way down this really short hall? You must be exhausted!" I exclaim, my voice dripping with sarcasm. In response, the K9 punches me in the face. I spit blood out on him as he pounds me into the floor, knocking me out.  
When I wake up, I'm strapped down to a table.

"You know, you don't have to knock me out every time. I might come if you just asked really nicely," I say wistfully. I don't see anyone there. But there are hidden cameras. I can sense them. (Thank you random powers!) A screen lights up. Where the hell did that come from?  
"This is the day we have prepared you for your whole life," a voice says.

"Oh joy," I say sarcastically.

"You will find out your mission, embrace your mission, and execute it without flaw. If you fail, we will exterminate you."

"I guess the pressure's on then," I say indifferently, although I'm a little interested.

The voice continues. "Watch the screen. Study it. For it will be your best tool to complete your mission."

"Kay, sure, I love movies," I smile. "Where's the popcorn?" Almost magically, a small container of popcorn appears in front of me. " Sweet," I smile and grab a handful.

The movie starts. First it talks about Itex, and how great they are, thats the name of the company, and how successful they're been

in making mutants. Then they talk about the six that escaped. Three girls, three boys. Ages fourteen, six, eight, and eleven. (Three of them are fourteen)  
"Your mission is to hunt down these rogue mutants. You have been preparing for this your whole life. You have been given powers, similar to their powers, but greater, and you shall end them, once and for all. The wolf/human hybrids have tried and failed. It is your turn, now. Do not fail." And just like that, the video ends.

Wow. Just…..wow. Were they serious?

"Are you serious?" I asked aloud. The voice sounded unsure.

"What do you not understand?"

"I don't understand why you expect me to just kill innocent people!" I blurted out. "You people are fucking crazy if you think I'm going to do that!"

"You must," said the voice. "Or you die."

"Yeah that's great. Look," I continued. "Just get someone else to do it. I'm not above killing people," I winked at the hidden camera. "But I only kill assholes who deserve it. And I don't think they deserve it."

"We do not care what you think," the voice says. "Comply or die."

I laughed. "That rhymed."

The voice made a sound that sounded like groaning. I had pissed off an evil person. My good deed for the day was done.

"Well….." I said, my voice trailing off.

"Take it back to its cage," the voice said.

"Hey, I'm a girl. I have girl parts," I protested, but I couldn't keep a smile off my face. The K9's came in, fully morphed and snarling.

"Bobby! About time you got here," I smiled at one of them. "Can you untie me?"

In reply, he bit open my bonds and then knocked me out, along with his buddies. When I woke up, I was through being nice. This "mission" was ridiculous. And I wanted out either way. So I curled myself into a tight ball before lashing out as hard as I could. The K9's never saw it coming. When my cage basically exploded, it was actually pretty. A rainbow flash of color. And so of course I had to walk dramatically through the smoke. It's basically a rule for any hero. So I ran down the hall, as alarms went off. It reminded me of another moment…..

Flashback:

I was six years old when that alarm went off. When those six bird kids escaped. Those six bird kids that I had to kill. I wasn't going to kill them, though. No freaking way.


	3. HEY LOOK I'M FLYING

Back to Present:

Damn, this hall's long. I just kept running down it. It was pure white, smelled like science, and had, I don't know, evil feel to it. I finally spotted the exit. I burst through it. A second later, I heard the unmistakable sound that meant the K9's were coming.

I ran through some trees, realizing this was the second time I had been outside. That's pretty sad. I unfurled my wings as I ran. Eleven feet long, pure white except for the tan tips at the edges. That's how I got my name….

"Snow! Focus!" My mind commanded.

One K9 snapped at my leg. I pulled it away but he still nicked me and it bled a little. I ignored the pain, it would heal soon anyway, and ran faster. Then came a cliff. "Yes!" I thought. I could make my getaway. Without hesitation, I ran and threw myself off the edge, straightening my wings as I did so.

I caught myself and glided on the wind. It felt…..amazing. I always dreamed about flying. It was better than I ever dreamed it would be. The K9's below roared with anger as I laughed and flew away. Away from my pain and suffering. To start a new life. And who better to find then people who were exactly like me?

The bird kids. The real question was how to find them. But since I was meant to kill the six bird kids, I was programmed with a GPS thing to find them. Convenient.  
So anyway, I started in California, so I had to go…east? Or was it west? Give me a break, I never went to school. So I kept flying, kept going to where I would hopefully meet my new friends. I never had a friend before….yep, I'm officially pathetic.

...

So I eventually got there. It was a giant house overlooking a huge cliff. It was beautiful. I landed in front of the porch. My senses tingled. This was definitely the place. I retracted my wings. Cautiously, I walked up the front steps and knocked on the door. And I just waited.

For about five minutes I waited until a girl of about eleven years old with caramel colored skin answered the door. She was pretty. She looked at me with wonder. "Who are you?" She asked.

"Ummmmm…" I mumbled.

A tough looking girl of fourteen years of age came up. She had a leaderlike quality about her. She had golden streaked brown hair. She was taller than me, about five foot nine. I'm five foot six. She glared at me. Somehow, this gave me the courage to speak.

"I need to talk to you," I said.

She narrowed her eyes. "About what? Why should I listen to you?"

In response, I extended my wings, all eleven feet of them.


	4. MEETING MY NEW FAMILY

She gaped at me, as did the younger girl.

"May I come in now?" I asked again. I couldn't keep a smile off my face.

She nodded.

I sat awkwardly in the living room. A boy of fourteen wearing all black came in. He was kind of hot, with wavy long-ish black hair. He saw me and narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you?" he demanded. Max glared at him. "Just sit down, Fang."

Fang. That's a weird name. I guess mine's not perfectly normal either so I won't complain. Next was a little boy, around eight. He came in smiling. When he saw me, he froze. Max shot him a reassuring glance and he nodded and sat next to her. Next was a little girl, about six years old. She smiled. "I know already Max." Max smiled at her and the girl went and sat in her lap. Lastly, a boy of fourteen came in. I looked at him with curiosity. He had wavy strawberry blonde hair, not as long as Fang's. He was tall, about six feet. Just by looking at him, I knew he was blind. "Guys? Why is everyone so quiet? "He came into the living room and sat on me.

"Ow!" I said in shock. He straightened immediately.

"I'm sorry, umm….. who did I just sit on?" he asks. "I can't… sense you. Why aren't you familiar to me?"

Max interrupted. "Because we have a… guest Iggy and you just sat on her."

He looked sheepish. "Sorry guest."

I laughed. "It's okay."

Max said "guys" to get everyone's attention. When she had everyone's attention, she said "Okay guys so this girl, she has wings. I don't know her or where she's from, but she's… like us. So let's introduce ourselves."

"So I'm Max," she smiled at me. "I'm fourteen, I'm the "leader" of our little flock, and I can fly with these." And she extended her wings. Thirteen feet long, tan and white with brown speckles.

"I'm Nudge!" piped the eleven year old. "People say I talk too much, and I guess I do but I just get really really excited sometimes, because-"

"Shut it, Nudge!" said the little boy.

She looked sheepish but continued. "yeah, so here are my wings." She extended her wings. They were ten feet long and light brown, almost cream colored.

"I'm Fang," nodded one fourteen year old boy. He extended her wings. They were fifteen feet long, and pure black with purple shadow. Like an angel of death.

The youngest girl smiled at me. "I'm Angel. I can read minds." She extended her eight foot long pure white wings. She looked like an angel.

"Well that's one name I won't forget," I thought to myself.

"Yeah it's pretty easy to remember." Angel's voice in my mind. Well they was quick.

The littlest boy smiled timidly at me. "I'm the Gasman. Call me Gazzy."

I groaned a little. "Please don't show me why."

He laughed. "Oh yeah, and I can perfectly mimic any voice." He extended his wings, light brown and ten feet long.

The fourteen year old that was last smiled. "Yeah so I'm Iggy. I'm blind…. As you can see!" he cracked up at his own joke. The rest of the kids smiled. "Yeah so anyway, I can sense the other members by their fingerprints and smells and stuff like that." Then he extends his fourteen foot long wings. They are blondish, like his hair, and they are beautiful. Without thinking, I press my hand to his wing. The feathers are soft. He smiles at me.

"So, anyway," I clear my throat. "My name is Snow, I'm thirteen years old, and I have wings." I flapped them in confirmation. "I was all made at around the same time as you guys for the same purpose. To make an avian/human hybrid. But when you guys escaped, and came here I guess, they "reprogrammed" me to kill you." At this, they look uncomfortable. Iggy puts his hand on top of mine in comfort. I look at him in surprise. I feel so…. Normal. Well, as normal as seven mutant bird kids can be. I continue my story.

"The day after you guys escaped, they started the tests. All the secret upgrades they programmed in you, they implanted stronger versions of it in me plus capacity for more. And powers you guys don't even have. Their goal, although I didn't know it when I was six, was to make a creature that could overpower you guys. When the K9's failed-"

"What's a K9?" Max interjected.

"Those wolf/human hybrids," I answered. "That's what I call them."

"Oh we call them Erasers," Max explained.

I continued my story with a nod. "So when they failed to locate and capture you, they wanted you dead. So that became my mission. But I didn't want that. So I escaped and I flew here." I finish.

"How did you find us?" asks Iggy.

"I was programmed to find you. It's like an internal GPS." I explain.

"What are your powers?" asks Max.

"Out of what I know, mind-reading, impersonation of voices, super strength and expert fighting skills, and self-healing." I say.

"That's' my power" says Angel and Gazzy at the same time.

"And I'm a pretty kick-ass fighter," adds Max, smiling.

"Self-healing?" questions Fang.

"Yeah, it….. took a while to work," I shudder at the terrible memory. Being tied up, unable to fight back as they slashed at me….I shook my head, trying to rid it of the memory.

"Snow, do you wanna maybe…. Lay down?" asks Max. I was exhausted. I always was….

"You can use my bed!" Offers Nudge. She smiles at me.

I feel like crying. "Yeah, thanks." I follow Nudge back to her room. She smiles at me. "Good night…." She says as I fall asleep immediately.


	5. AUTHOR WRITES A QUICK NOTE

So hi peoples reading this story,

I know I may have gotten some of the flock's wing colors wrong in chapter four I'll go back later and fix it when I have time, the story is just flowing really well in my head so I don't want to stop and look that up now. Also, I'm lazy. But I'll get to it one day. : p

I hope you guys like the story, and keep reading. So far, I have one person, but thats better then 0 and if it wasn't for them, I would cancel this story because there's no point in writing something nobody's going to read. So thanks to WittyX for reading, and others who may be reading this in the future, thank you guys too. Keep reviewing and favoriting(is that a word?) and I'll be so happy. : p

From,

Kate

P.S. For those of you who read the Max Ride series, I will be following that format. I hope to have all of the books written out, but with Snow, so some things have changed. I have written to the part up to where Max(and Snow in mine) are leaving Ella and Dr. Martinez, which I haven't edited yet so I won't publish it for maybe a week. I just wanted to let you know that even though I don't write anything on the individual chapters, I do care and will occasionally put in these chapters answering questions and stuff.

Kay, now I'm done.

Oh people I just fixed the wing colors and wingspan. The only one I think I have the wrong color wings for is Iggy, it doesn't say his wing color in the books, I don't think, and I want them to be reddish blonde so that they match him.


	6. I LOVE INJURING PEOPLE

I wake up in an unfamiliar place. I panic before remembering. "You're safe Snow," I tell myself and stretch as I get up.

I go to the kitchen. There is nothing but a note that reads: Snow, We went to go pick some strawberries. We didn't want to wake you, so we just left you this note. We'll be back soon.

From, the Flock

P.S. You're so cool! –Nudge

I laughed and smiled as I waited but after two minutes, something felt wrong. I heard screaming in my head, the flock screaming… I ran out the front door and jumped, extending my wings and flying towards the sound. When I got there, the Erasers/K9's(I'll just call them Erasers) were there and they were beating up Max and her flock. Max and Fang were doing decent but the rest were untrained and unprepared. I launched myself at the Eraser about to bite Nudge. He fell like a brick and I stepped on his back really hard, breaking it. She gasped for air, he had been choking her too, but she gave me a grateful smile.

I ran over to help Gazzy who was being used as a punching bag. He looked close to passing out as I gave his Eraser a really hard kick where the sun don't shine. He crumpled as I kicked him in the face, breaking his nose. Gazzy was so dizzy I had to steady him, and I laid him gently against a tree.

Then I heard an unmistakable scream. I turned to see Angel being shoved into a bag as she tried to punch, kick, and bite her attackers. I ran towards her, but was stopped by two Erasers. I pummeled them into the ground to see Angel being thrown into a car as it started to drive off. "Angel!" I screamed, before being smacked into the ground.

A few moments later, I sat up, my head spinning. Angel…. ANGEL! We needed to save her! "Max!" I yelled.

She got up slowly. "They have Angel, we need to get them," I said, my voice shaking.

Her face looked horrified. "Flock! They got Angel! You guys up for a chase?"

They sat up, and nodded. We all jumped into the air, extending our wings and flying toward her. After a minute, I saw her bring thrown into a plane. They had stuffed her in a bag. "Angel!" I yelled in desperation, and flew faster. I was right there, with Max right behind me. The plane was flying away but the back was open. There, five Erasers stood, one of them holding the bag she was in. The lead Eraser held up a gun and pointed it at me. Max looked at him and gaped. I couldn't think about that, I needed to save Angel, I needed to.

"If you don't wanna die," smiled the Eraser holding the gun. "Then you better back up." I glared at him.

"Fuck that," I said and flew full speed at him, only to get shot. It hurt but I still reached for the bag Angel was in. "Angel, I got you," I sent her a thought message.

"Snow, look out!" I heard but she was too late. I was kicked in the side and I got sent flying out of the plane, without Angel. The last thing I remember was Max flying after me as I fell through the air, unable to open my wings.

...

Groggily, I opened my eyes. I saw Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Max, and Gazzy. No Angel. I sobbed. They all looked at me in surprise. "Snow, you're up," Max said softly, running her hands through my hair comfortably.

"It's my fault!" I sobbed. "I almost had her!"

"It's not your fault." Max said sternly. "It's those scientists fault, those Erasers' faults. And my baby's going back to the School-"her voice cracked.

Then everyone's immediately burst into tears. She was Max's baby, Nudge's friend, my friend, Gazzy's biological little sister, Fang's little sister, and Iggy's friend. She was so innocent, and she might die now. Because I failed to save her.


	7. WE FINALLY MAKE A PLAN

"We need to save her," I said immediately. "Let me see if I can thought communicate with her."

And so I searched. Angel…. Please Angel say something…. Angel.

"Snow?" the voice was scared, but it was Angel's and that's what mattered.

"Angel, yeah it's me we're coming to rescue you." I said to her.

"Okay…. Please hurry." She said quietly. I think she said more but the connection was shorted out and I was suddenly exhausted. Panting for breath, I said "Never tried to send one that long before…. She answered me and she's scared….. But she's okay. For now."

"Let's go save her now," Gazzy said.

"Gazzy, we need a plan-" Max started.

"We need to save my little sister!" and Gazzy sobbed.

"Hey…" I went over and wrapped my arm around him. "Look Gazzy, I'm sad too, and Max is sad too, but we will save her, and if we don't have a plan, we'll get captured too and then we can't save her. Okay?" He nodded reluctantly.

"I'm sorry Max." She smiled at him.

"It's okay. But you're right. We need to save her now. So I'll think up a plan." So she thought for a moment and we waited in silence. Finally, she said "Okay, Nudge, Snow, Fang, and I will go save Angel. Gazzy and Iggy stay here." Gazzy and Iggy groaned.

"How can we stay here while my sister's in danger?" protested Gazzy.

"Look," Max argued. "Iggy is blind, and we can't have any liabilities; we need speed. And Gassy, you're the second youngest, so I want you to stay out of danger. You'd probably do something rash while we were there and we can't have that." Gazzy's face fell. "Fine," he muttered. Iggy looked really pissed but he kept his mouth shut.

"Okay guys, grab food and lets move out," Max clapped her hands and people moved. "Here," Max handed me a small backpack, which was colored red and black. My favorite colors. Sweet.

"Thanks," I smiled. She also gave me a knife and a windbreaker, which was also colored red and black. (Not the knife). I cut slits in the back for my wings. Then, about twenty minutes later, I had filled my backpack, and we were all ready to go. Fang, Max, Nudge, and I flew out the door and started our rescue mission.

**Yeah it's a short chapter, it just seemed like a good breaking point when they're about to leave. So don't kill me, sue me, steal my car(ha! I'm only 13 I don't have a car!), or anything else mean. I update often, so... calm down.**

**Fly on peeps,**

**Kate**


	8. GETTING SOME NOM NOMS

On the way there, I talked with Nudge. It was mostly her, because she never shut up, but I really liked her. She was two years younger than me, and yet, we became very close. She liked fashion, which I couldn't care less about, but besides that, we rarely disagreed.

"Hey Snow, Nudge." Max nodded at us to join up with her and Fang. "Okay so on the off-chance that we get separated, we'll meet at Lake Mead, okay? And Snow can help us track down each other." She smiled at me.

I quickly nodded. "Yeah okay."

Nudge looked thoughtful. "How would we get separated? Like if we went through a cloud, or something? I've never flown through a cloud. Is it fun? It might be wet, and-"

I shoved my hand over her mouth. "How do I mute the Nudge Channel?" I moaned. Max laughed. "You can't."

I groaned loudly. Nudge smacked my arm off her mouth. "C'mon! I don't talk _that _much."

"Yes, you do," Max, Fang, and I said at the same time.

We all laughed, even Nudge and flew on, in relative silence. Suddenly, I gasped and felt myself falling. The world blacked out as I had a vision or something:

_Angel was in the school. She was in a cage and she looked scared. In the cage next to her were failed experiments. Two little boys, messed up beyond the imagination. It was painful to look at. Angel tried to talk with them, but they didn't look like they could speak. Then two scientists came in, looking at Angel as though she was a dog at a dog show. She backed away in fear as they opened her cage and grabbed her, taking her to test her brain and get samples._

I felt myself being carried. I groaned and sat up a bit. Max carried me, and she looked both angry, and worried.

"Snow, I almost had a heart attack! What happened?!"

"Sorry Max, I felt a lot of pain, which made me fold up my wings, and as I fell I had a vision."

That made her curious. "About what?"

"Actually, I think I just saw the present. I saw Angel. At the School." I explained what happened in my vision to everyone.

Max breathed heavily. "She's okay. She's okay."

"She is okay, Max," piped in Nudge.

Fang nodded. She briefly smiled. "Yeah, for now at least. Who's hungry?"

"I am!" Nudge shouted immediately.

"Yeah, let's get something to eat," I agreed, and Max nodded. I jumped out of her arms and spread my wings.

"So, where to?" Fang asked Max quietly.

"Shut it, I'm thinking." She replied. We were in the middle of a ski place, a bunch of cabins everywhere. No restaurants or anything. People probably had to bring their own food…. Now there's a thought.

"Max, there's probably food in the cabins," I said.

Her face lit up. "You're right, Snow. Let's go check." So we landed quickly, folding in our warm wings against our cold backs. Max quietly slit open a window's lining with a pocketknife. Fang then jiggled the lock until it clicked open. Nudge and I then pulled the window up, and we were in. We went immediately to the kitchen, where the fridge was empty. Luckily, the cabinets were full of food.

"Yes!" Nudge exclaimed and opened a can of cold ravioli. I had not eaten enough times to be picky, so I grabbed something random and shoved it down my throat. The taste was unfamiliar…. Apples?

"Hey guys, what's this?" I asked, holding up my can for inspection.

"Applesauce," said Max. Nudge gave me a weird look. "You've never had applesauce before?" she asked in surprise.

I felt self-conscious. "No."

So after that, everyone just shut up and ate food. We were full after a few minutes. I wanted to save Angel but…. My stomach hurt. I had eaten too much.

"Let's take a short nap first," I suggested. Max and Fang nodded. Nudge was already conked out on the couch.

_"...Snow...oh Snow I miss you...so much...come back to me Snow..."_


	9. WHY I HATE GUNS

I awoke suddenly, startled. What the fuck?

"Forget about the voice, Snow it doesn't matter right now," I told myself. So I wiped sleep out of my eyes and looked outside. It was getting brighter. We had slept through the night, about six hours. Wait…..SIX HOURS?! Oh my god! Angel!

"Guys!" I yelled. "Get up, we slept for six hours!" They all awoke at once. It was kind of creepy, actually. Max wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"Kay, let's go!" Max pulled a sleepy Nudge to her feet, and we flew out the window.

"_We're sorry, Angel." I sent her a message through my mind and into hers. "We're coming now. To save you." _I hoped she could hear me.

So we were off again. Flying through mountains, over Lake Mead, over some woods, when Max suddenly stopped.

"What is it, Max?" Asked Nudge. Max was facing the ground. I followed her gaze and saw a girl, around my age, or a year younger, next to five fifteen year olds. I was willing to guess that they weren't her boyfriends.

Fang grabbed Max's shirt. "Max, focus."

She shrugged him off, and said "Wait at that cave near Lake Mead." She angled herself downward.

"Wait!" I yelled quickly. She paused briefly.

"I'll come," I smiled and flew after her as we shot down into some bushes. We landed soundlessly and folded in our wings quickly. We watched from behind a bush.

"I told you not to tell anyone about my little situation with Ortiz! It was none of your business! I had to teach him a lesson!" One of the boys was yelling at her. My hands curled into fists. I really didn't like him.

"By beating him up? He looks like he got hit by a car. And he didn't do anything to you," the girl shot back. I smiled. "You go girl," I heard Max think and laughed silently.

"He mouthed off to me. He exists. He breathes my air." Said the same guy, laughing meanly. His stupid friends laughed along. What creeps. Unfortunately, they were armed. Fortunately, I didn't care. Max and I stepped out at the same time. Max glared at them and I cracked my knuckles in anticipation. They looked unimpressed. Surprised, but unimpressed. The boy kept talking.

"So Ella, what have you got to say for yourself?" He taunted her. "Is there any reason I shouldn't teach you a lesson, too?"

"Five guys against one girl. That seems about even," Max interjected sarcastically.

"Shut up, chick." One of them said. "You better-"He didn't finish his sentence before my fist collided with his nose. I heard a crack and couldn't help being satisfied. "Take that, you asshole." I smiled.

Max turned to the girl. 'You might want to run." She quickly obeyed and ran off. The guy whose nose I think I broke glares at me. The leader frowns. "Get them!" The boys came at us. But it wasn't really fair. Five teenage boys against two genetically enhanced teenage girls? They didn't stand a chance. Max's leg collided with the leader's chest and I heard a rib crack. I grabbed the shotgun out of another guy's hands and hit him in the side if the head with it, knocking him out cold. I punched another in the face, as Max (accidentally) broke another's nose. I had dropped the gun, and one of them picked it up and aimed it at us. "You're going to be so sorry," he promised, fire in his eyes.

"Bet we won't," Max winked and we ran. We ran through the underbrush easily, and would have just flown off but we couldn't let them see our wings so we kept running. I hear a loud cracking sound. The gun. "Run faster Snow," Max muttered as we ran faster. I heard another pop and Max pushed me down.

"Ow! What the hell, Max?!" I said, trying not to be too loud. With horror, I saw that she had jumped in front of me, taking a bullet in the shoulder. It would have pierced me through the heart. "Oh Max…. I'm sorry," I apologized quickly. "Can you still run?"

She nodded and we ran on, with Max applying pressure to her shoulder to stop the bleeding. We lost the boys, and I turned to Max as we stopped. "Can you fly?" She tried to extend a wing, then stopped. The pain was obviously too much. It had pierced her through the wing. After living with doctors all my life, I knew an injury when I saw one, and this was bad. "Max, you're going to hate me, but we need help," I told her firmly. "Professional help."

"Snow, we can't go to a normal hospital," she told me firmly.

"I know, but….." and looked around in desperation. Like magic, we were right by a house. Out came Ella with a dog, the girl from before. "Max, it's that girl Ella, I'll ask her to help."

"Snow, are you sure?"

"Yes." I walked over with Max. "Umm…hi," I said to her. She looked up.

"Oh! You're the girls from before! Thanks, by the way." She smiled at us.

"Well um… we need help." I gestured to Max, who was still bleeding. She managed a weak smile. "Hi."

Ella gasped. "Oh my god, did he shoot you?! Antonio, that jerk! I'll get my mom." She ran inside, calling for her mom. She gestured to us. "Come in you two." Should we go inside? I couldn't really trust that many people….. but Max needed help. I helped Max inside and we went to the kitchen, where Ella's mother was. "Hi, Ella told me you were shot by those bullies… That's terrible! Let me just get my stuff. Help's on the way, umm…. Sweetie what's your name?" Ella's mom finished.

"Max." She answered. "And you?" Asked her mom, looking at me.

"Umm… I'm Max's friend. My name is Snow," I told her truthfully. Ella's mom went to get her "stuff", as Max asked "What's her "stuff?"

Ella smiled. "She's a vet. But she's good with people injuries, too." I smiled, thinking about how appropriate that was, since we're two percent bird.

Ella's mom, who told us to call her Dr. Martinez, or Dr. M, helped Max to the bathroom. I followed, and watched as she washed off Max's shoulder, cleansing it. Then she had to cut off Max's outer jacket to get to the tank top, where her shoulder was clearly visible. "Oh crap," was my first thought. Dr. M and Ella would see her wings. But I was too late. Dr. M saw the tip of Max's wing peeking out. "Max," She asked in a controlled voice. "What's that?"

Max laughed nervously. "It's my wing." She smiled sheepishly.

Ella gaped and Dr. M. But for the first time ever, the human accepted the bird kid. She continued to work on Max. "Well Max, your shoulder and wing were both hit," she said. "Okay, first we have to clean it and stop it from bleeding. When's the last time you had a tetanus shot?"

Max looked as surprised as I felt. "Umm...never?"

"Okay I can take care of that too." Dr. M smiled again. She started cleaning Max's wound. "Ella, can you get our guests some juice?" Ella quickly complied. She came back with two tall glasses of juice. I grabbed one, draining it in two seconds flat. Max started draining hers as well, almost as fast as me. And she was supposed to be hurt in her arm! Half an hour later, they had finished and laid Max down in Ella's room to rest. Then they confronted me.

"Snow….." Dr. M paused. "Are you….. like Max?"

I felt speechless. "Uhh…yeah pretty much."

"How…. How did this happen?" Ms. M asked me softly, gently.

"I don't know," I lied after a moment's hesitation. "It's just, we were flying, and we saw Ella in trouble so we went to help her but one of our other friends is in trouble, we need to help her," I blurred suddenly, changing the subject.

"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Ella's sympathetic voice reached me.

"No, it's just…. We need to fly there, so…." My voice trailed off. It was a lame excuse but it was good enough for her because she merely nodded in understanding.

"So I need to take Max for some tests tomorrow at my lab," Dr. M started. "Snow, would you like to go to school with Ella?"

My heart almost stopped. Me? Go to school?


	10. ANOTHER NOTE--YAY!

So hey guys, here's another note:

So yeah, Snow will be going to school(SPOILERS!) under the false name of Kate. (Hey, that's my real name, what a coincidence!) So the next chapter might bore some of you, because it's just school, but with a little twist of course, because there's a bird kid. But we'll get back to saving Angel soon enough, so... calm down. Yep, that's it, and thanks for reading and stuff.

Fly on,

Kate


	11. GOING TO SCHOOL-NOT THE BAD KIND THOUGH

"Yes," I breathed. "That would be incredible." Ella smiled at me.

"Yay! It'll be great!" She led me down her hallway to a closet. She opened the closet. Inside were blankets, and clothes. She gave me a big warm shirt and fluffy pants to wear to bed. I wasn't used to such luxuries. Once I had changed, Ella went to her living room, and made her couch into a pullout bed by…. You know, pulling it out. We slept there together, just like a sleepover. Talking for an hour about school. Ella's best friend Mandy. The kids on her bus. Her favorite teacher, Mr. Fischer. And so on. It was the most peaceful I'd ever felt since Angel was….. never mind. I have to keep my head up.

That night, I had another dream/vision:

_Angel sits at the beginning of a maze like thing. She is breathing hard. I guess they put her through the maze multiple times already. She takes a sip of water, looking exhausted. When a bell rings, she is pushed and she runs through the whole thing without stopping. Exhausted, she falls down at the end. Angel….. my heart twists with pain. She looks up, blinded by the bright lights. A man comes up, maybe mid forties in age, and smiles at her. Who is he? I try to read his mind, but it's just a vision, I can't do anything but watch. She knows him, I can tell, she looks excited, then terrified. Who is he? What has he done? Questions float through my head as I jolt awake._

"Ahh!" I yell, scared out of sleep.

"Snow? What's wrong?" Ella asks tiredly, sitting up and yawning. I don't tell her much. Just that I had a bad dream.

"Girls! Time for school!" I hear Dr. M's voice from the kitchen.

"We're up Mom!" Ella yells back. We run down the hall, and Ella gives me clothes to wear that are hers. I'm a little bit taller then her, but the clothes still fit so I put them on. Ten minutes later, we go in the kitchen for breakfast, joining Dr. M. She set out tiny plates, and silverware, and fruit, and juice, and so much food. I feel ravenous but don't start eating yet. A minute later, Max comes in. "Max!" I say, and give her a hug. I knew she'd be okay, but I really care about her. I care about the whole flock a lot. I feel like I was meant to be with them.

She smiles, a little bit surprised. "Morning Snow."

Ella smiles. "Hi-a Max!"

She smiles in reply and focuses on her food. I start too, using the silverware, which really slows me down, but I manage to shovel about six pounds of food in my mouth within ten minutes. It's delicious! Eggs, Potatoes, Fruit….I've never had a home cooked meal before. "Ready for school, Snow?" Asks Ella, jolting me out of my thoughts.

Max looks surprised. "You're going to school?"

"It's just for today," I reply, hoping she's okay with it.

"Yeah okay," she mutters. I quickly read her thoughts. "_If you're at school, how can I protect you?" _

_"Max, I'll be fine," I shoot into her mind. She sighs in her mind. "Fine, just be careful."_

_"Okay."_

So I grab my backpack, colored red and black, and Ella and I walk to her bus stop.

We get there ten minutes later and see a girl who looks our age, she's wearing too much lipstick, too much makeup in general, and looks generally slutty.

"Hey dork. Who's the friend?" The girl sneers at Ella.

Ella glares at her. "Just go away Shauna."

Shauna smirks. "Don't want to look like a dork in front of your little friend there?"

I interject. "Ella's my cousin, and if you insult her one more time, I'll make sure you can't move without a wheelchair."

She looks at me, her mouth set in a scowl. For a few minutes, we just stare at each other. Finally, she looks away in discomfort. I smile. Oh, by the way did I mention that Ella and I are both in 7th grade? Although technically I'm 13 and she's 12, I'm not quite a year older so we're in the same grade.

The bus arrives. Towards the middle of the bus, there's a three seater with one person in it. I immediately like this girl. She's our age, with cute earrings, black pants, and a dark blue shirt. She smiles and waves over Ella, who invites me to sit next to them. I do, and Ella introduces us. "Mandy, this is Kate. Kate, this is Mandy." Kate is the name I chose as my "normal name". Snow was an unusual name. In fact, it probably wasn't even a name. So I just went with Kate. I smile nervously. "Hi." She smiles at me. A huge smile. It looks painful, it's so big.

"So nice to meet you!" she chirps. "Did you just move here?"

"Actually, Ella's my cousin I'm staying with her for a couple days," I answer quickly.

"Oh. Okay then." Her smile never falters.

The bus arrives at the school. We go to the office, get my "name" checked in. (Kate Martinez). Then we find my locker, and Ella has to teach me how to open it. Luckily, I catch on quickly… after the first twenty times.

"Yes!" I cheer as I finally get my lock to open without any help. Mandy looks at me a little strangely.

"Don't they have locks where you're from?"

"Lie, Snow, lie," I tell myself. "Umm… we have keys for our lockers. No combinations."

"Oh okay then." There's that smile again. We go to homeroom. It turns out Mandy and Ella have a lot of classes together, I have a lot of classes with Ella, and the ones that Ella isn't in, I have Mandy. Thank god for that.

We walk to our homeroom(we're all in the same homeroom) and tell the teacher about me and he adds my name to the roster. "Okay, you're all signed in." He smiles at me. Ella and Mandy go over to a group of desks in a corner where some other girls are sitting so I followed them.

"Hi Ashley! Hi Amy!" Calls out Ella.

"Hey Els! Hey Mandy! Hey-wait who is that?" Asks the one who I think is Ashley.

"This is Kate, she's my cousin," Ella quickly introduces me.

"Hi Kate, I'm Amy." Smiles one of the girls. She is blonde, and short, with sparkling blue eyes.

"Hey I'm Ashley." Smiles the other. She is Indian, also short, and has brown caramel eyes and frizzy black hair.

"Can I call you Ash?" I ask timidly.

She smiles. "Sure! A lot of people do!"

"Nobody does," scoffed Mandy.

I feel better as the girls around me talk-about boys, school, and other stuff, and they always try to get me in the conversation. They are really nice, and I'm so grateful to be able to go to school with Ella, I feel so normal for once!

"Earth to Kate…" I hear faintly.

Amy laughs. "You dozed off a little Kate."

I roll my eyes. "Well I woke up pretty early this morning."

"SAME!" laughs Mandy, and I'm not sure why I laugh but I do. Then suddenly, we're all laughing and I feel…. So normal again.

First period is gym. I didn't bring "gym clothes," but I tell my teacher that I can run fine in jeans, and so he lets me play. We're doing a mile run today. Only a mile? We go outside. Some girls shiver, even though it's not that cold. Mandy jogs over to me. Ella's not in my gym class, so it's just us two. "Hey Snow, wanna run together?" She asks.

I laugh. 'Try to keep up."

She laughs too. "Is that a challenge I hear?"

I try to keep serious. "Yes."

"Okay let's do this."

On the gym teacher's count, we get ready.

3….2….1….GO!

I didn't want to show off my enhancements but I couldn't help it. I sprinted off, leaving many students in the dust. I ran a mile in two minutes, arriving back at the gym teacher in, I guess, record time. He gaped at me. "How…. How did you?"

I smiled confidently. "I'm good at sports."

Mandy finished in about seven minutes. Not bad for a regular human.

"Damn, Kate!" She exclaimed, out of breath. I was barely sweating. "How did you do that?"

"I told you I'm good at running," I reminded her.

She shook her head in wonder. "I think we'll get along well, Kate." She smiles but my heart fell. After today, I will probably never see her again. I smile back, but it probably looks as fake as it feels.

So…second period. Science. I know a lot about Science so I prepare myself to astound the teacher. She comes into the room, and I walk up to her.

"Shut up, and do your do-now!" She screams at me.

"Well, I'm new, and…" I stutter.

Her glare softens. "Oh." She gestures to a table of students with one chair empty. "Sit over there. If you don't understand something, ask your groupmates." Then she stormed to her desk to look through some papers.

Wow. She's mean. "Is she always like that?" I whisper to the boy next to me.

He nods. "Sometimes worse," he whispers back. Ella gives me a small smile from across the room. I smile back, but first mouth "This teacher's really mean!"

"Well, her nickname is Miss Devil," she mouths back before returning to her work. Ugh.

I start my Do-Now, finding it easy. I finish it quickly, and sit to wait for more instructions. Well, nobody got detention so I guess it wasn't a terrible class. People were yelled at though. After living through hell my whole life, I hated to see anyone unhappy. Except the scientists or the Erasers. They should burn in hell.

So...next was 3rd period. Ella nudged me as we walked down a set of stairs. "This is my favorite class, Mr. Fischer is the best!" She told me enthusiastically. I hoped for the best.

Turns out Ella was right. Mr. Fischer was really funny and nice, too. I couldn't wait to tell the flock about him. "Just focus on school," I told myself, breathing deeply but quietly. When I thought about the flock, I started crying a little. I stopped, and laughed at Mr. Fischer's jokes, got through Math even though I might have failed a test, had fun in English where the teacher was also nice. For lunch, I ate a lot because I needed to. I burn calories faster than the average human. When a bunch of "popular girls" saw me with all that food, they laughed and called me "Fatso." They weren't even trying to hide it. I wanted to kill them so badly. Or at least break their noses. But I kept it in. For mine and Ella's sake. I ate my food. Amy, Ashley, Mandy, and some other girls that included a crazy girl named Lisa sat at our lunchtable didn't care what we ate or how much. I felt better as I started my fourth burger.

After lunch, I have orchestra. Umm…never played a violin before. I thought I was going to fail. But Ella introduced me to her friend Iris, who helped me understand some basic things before I confronted the orchestra teacher. She scared me a little, but she seemed to understand that I might fail, and told me I should just play really softly. Thanks for the boost of confidence.(SARCASM). Then I had French class with a nice lady, who was old and was named "Mrs. Marshall." I was already fluent in French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and I spoke a little Mandarin. Thanks again, asshole scientists. So I took the quiz she handed out, positive that I got a 100.

After school, Mandy and Ella showed me to the bus. But I had something different in mind. "Ella, can you come with me?" I asked.

She looked confused. "Okay, just me?"

"Yeah, sorry Mandy I…."

"It's okay, I'll just take the bus." So Mandy took the bus home. Ella looked at me in wonder.

"What is it Snow?"

"Let's fly home," I felt excited.

She looked at me in astonishment. "Snow…I can't fly."

"I'll carry you."

"How strong are you?"

"You can trust me."

"Okay."


	12. BACK TO THE MISSION

"Okay…"

So we ran into the convenient woods that were next to the school, and once we were once of sight and had space. I extended my wings. All eleven feet of them. They were gorgeous. Ella gaped. "They're beautiful," she murmured, and slowly put her hand out, touching the feathers. "They're so soft," she said softly in wonder.

"So, ready to fly?" I grin at her.

"Okay…" She sounds a little nervous.

I hold her piggyback style, which should be okay because my wings extend to the sides. I quickly climb a tree with her on my back and jump off, flapping my wings, letting the wind carry me up. Ella tightened her grip as we rose, and now she started laughing. "Snow, this is amazing!" she laughed and cheered as I spun in the air. Within five minutes we were home.

I landed in the back, near the woods. She jumped off my back, and I folded in my wings. We went inside, where the smell of chocolate chip cookies awaited us. Life was good : D

While Max and I inhaled ten cookies each, Ella and her mom only had two. Humans were weird. Whatever, more for us! I chomped on my cookies, and Max swallowed hard. She cleared her throat, and everyone turned to her.

"So, I know we like it here, but we need to leave. We're going tomorrow. Sorry everyone," she gave Ella and Dr. M sympathetic looks, but she looked like she was trying hard not to cry herself. Why didn't she give me a sympathetic look? I liked it here…..did Max not realize that? But Angel was more important, and Max was probably thinking about her. I was too. But I was going to miss Ella. Maybe after we saved Angel….everyone could come here. And Nudge, Ella, Mandy, and I would be best friends. I smiled at the thought. And Angel could be the little sister we always played dress up with, Iggy could cook with Dr. M, and I would help too, Max could do whatever she wanted, Fang could do that too, and Gazzy could consume out of one end, and release it out of the other. It would be great.

"Snow?" I snapped back to attention when Dr. M called my name. She held up some empty dishes and a pot full of food. "Wanna help me serve this?" She asked. I ran over and helped make the burros for dinner. "Burros" was Mexican for "Oh my freaking god, this is amazing! Give me another one!" I had to take the meat and put it in the burro, then wrap it all up and melt cheese on top. Dr. M, and Ella each had a reasonable one burro. I had five. Max had six. And they were pretty freaking delicious. During dinner, almost nobody spoke. Max tried to start conversations, but they just died out. I needed to talk to Max.

_"Max?" I projected into her head._

_"Snow, I'm sorry, we just can't stay!" She quickly replied, sounding annoyed and sad._

_"I wasn't gonna say that…" I said softly. She looked sheepish inside her head._

_"Oh, sorry."_

_"Do you think…" I couldn't get the words out. "Do you think the flock is worried about us?" I felt guilty enough by wanting to stay longer._

_She sighed. "Probably. That's why we have to go. We have to go save Angel and reunite with Fang and Nudge."_

_"Okay." And I left her mind._

After dinner, I immediately went to bed. As did Max. We wanted our sleep. Later, at around midnight, I hear a sound. It sounded like sobbing. I rolled over to see Ella crying. She was sitting up and crying. I was about to comfort her. Was this about me leaving the next day? But then I saw she was on the phone, and stayed still. "She's leaving, Cassie. What do I do?" Ella sobbed into the phone.

"Who the hell is Cassie?" I thought angrily. I hear a muffled reply.

"Don't let her leave, or you're dead," the voice said meanly. That was it. I grabbed the phone out of Ella's hands. She gaped at me.

"Look bitch, I don't know who the hell you are, but if you mess with Ella, you're messing with me. So if you value your life, leave while you can," I snarled into the phone.

The girl only laughed. "Get her Ella." I laughed in disbelief. But then Ella grabbed me, and locked my arms behind my back.

"Ella! What the hell?" I struggled but she was inhumanly strong. The girl on the phone continued. "You thought you had escaped, Snow. But you're going to stay right there. And Ella won't let you leave, because if she does, we'll kill her mom. We're coming for you."

"Are you from the School? You sound so young…" My voice trailed off.

The girl laughed evilly. Not like a movie villain laugh, just a really mean laugh. "I may sound young, but I'm thirty eight. Now, straight to the point. Maximum Ride is not dead. You were supposed to kill her, and her little flock. So complete your mission. Just so you know, we will brainwash you if you don't complete your mission…the right way. We'll give you one more chance. But if you don't kill Max and her fellow mutants, we will force you to." And then the phone hung up. Ella glared at me with ice in her eyes. Then she punched me hard in the nose, and **_I woke up._**

Thank freaking god. Ella was normal, she still looked nervous though, Dr. M looked upset, and Max looked close to tears.

"Hey, what's wro-" I started to say before Max tackled me with a hug. She was breathing heavily. I hugged her back.

"Hey Max what happened?" I asked her gently. She looked at me in disbelief.

**_"You mean you don't remember almost dying!?"_**

"Umm…no."

"Wow Snow, your heart stopped beating, I was so worried…" Max's voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice breaking like a little kid.

Then Max pulled me into a hug, joined by Ella and Dr. M, and we had a group hug. I didn't tell them about my dream, it was too disturbing, but I recalled being punched at the end. "What did you do?" I asked mischievously.

Max blushed. "Well, your heart stopped, and I panicked, and I may have tried to punch you to bring you back to life. A few times."

I groaned. "That's probably why my nose feels like playdo."

Max smiled. "Well it worked didn't it? You're not dead now."

I smiled despite myself. "I guess you're right."

Max helped me up, I was still feeling a little dizzy, and we went and ate some food. It was delicious, of course, but the thought of leaving was almost too much to bear for Ella, and I saw tears threatening to form in her eyes. Dr. M kept up a casual conversation throughout breakfast so we wouldn't feel awkward, but it didn't work that well. After breakfast, we started to pack up. I felt a hand on my shoulder as I walked down the hall.

"Do you really have to go, Snow?" Ella.

"I'm sorry Ell, but our….. sister needs help, so….. we have to go," I explained awkwardly.

She looked concerned. "Is she like you?"

I hesitated for a moment. "Yes."

Ella started to say something, but restrained herself. She let me go collect my backpack, and we went outside, joining Dr. M and Max. Max smiled at Dr. M.

"Just… thanks for helping us out."

"Thank you so much," I chimed in.

"It was our pleasure," Dr. M smiled tearfully. And then she pulled all of us into a group hug, and I didn't want to let go. But Angel needed us. So I let go. So did Max. She nodded at me. Up and away.

In perfect synchronization, we opened our wings and jumped into the sky. Dr. M and Ella watched us in awe, and waved as we flew away. We waved back, and then we were off.


	13. THE BOYS APPARENTLY BLEW STUFF UP

…TIME PASSES….. ABOUT TEN MINUTES…

Lake Mead came into view. Max nodded her head at it. I nodded and flew faster, only to be hit by a blur of feathers, and 5 foot three inches of human.

"SNOW SNOW SNOW! AND MAX! MY GOD, WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

I hugged Nudge back. "Why would you think we were dead?"

She looked breathless. "Ari said so. He said that all of you guys were dead except me and Fang."

"Who's Ari?" I asked in confusion, as Max hugged Nudge, who had basically jumped into Max's arms.

"He's a Super-Eraser of sorts, he used to be a human kid, they made him an Eraser," Max says with no emotion in her voice. Fang flies over and nods at us.

Then I fully digest what Nudge said. "Wait! Are Iggy and Gazzy okay!? This Ari guy said they were dead!"

"Does this answer your question?" I heard a familiar voice behind me. Iggy.

I turned and shoved him. "You suck!" I yelled, but I was laughing. "I was worried there for a second!"

"Hey what about me?" Gazzy.

"Why are you guys here? You were supposed to stay at home, where it's safe." Max interjected, crossing her arms and glaring at the boys.

"We couldn't stay home, it wasn't safe anymore!" Iggy protested.

"What do you mean it wasn't safe?" Max demanded.

"They found our house, there were Erasers everywhere," piped in Gazzy. Max kept her mouth shut. She looked surprised. Probably hadn't expected the Erasers to find our home.

"Well when did they start coming?" Asked Max. "Was it right after we left?"

"No….." Gazzy mumbled. "I think it was after the Oil Slick Hummer Crash?"

What the hell is an oil slick hummer crash?

Iggy nodded. "That definitely seemed to piss them off."

Max looked surprised and angry. "Why did you do that?!"

"It was self-defense! Max, they were already coming to get us!" Exclaimed Gazzy.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'm glad you're safe then". And she hugged them both, then hugged Fang, and hugged Nudge again. I did the same. Nudge looked close to tears when I hugged her.

"Snow, I thought you guys had died," she whimpered.

I felt bad. While Max and I had been eating cookies, Nudge and Fang had been fighting for their lives.

"I'll tell you what happened later," I promise her. As we finish the hugging, Max signals everyone back to the cave, and we fly there and land on the smooth cool floor. Better than a dog crate, not as good as a bed. But not terrible. While Iggy and Gazzy make mini-bombs, and Fang and Max discuss strategy or something, I tell Nudge about what happened at Dr. M's house.

She stares at me in shock. "You went to school?"

I nod. She looks speechless. (for once.) "I always wanted to go to school."

"I hope we can go back there one day. I think that you and me and Ella would be great friends," I say enthusiastically.

She nods. "I hope so…. Now I'll tell you what happened to me."

And she tells me about trying to find her mom, beating up some Erasers, and learning to fly like the hawks. She promises to teach me how sometime. She is in the middle of describing the Christmassy sight of bloody Erasers with green hair, when Max interrupts everyone with a "Hey guys, let's get some shut-eye. Tomorrow we're off to go save Angel."

She puts out her fist, and Nudge places her fist on top. Then Iggy. Then Fang. Then I do. Then Gazzy does. We then unstack our fists and curl up in our separate corners to get some sleep.

Dream/Vision Thing:

_Angel glares at the man standing before her. He's in his early forties, short dark hair, a few grey ones. He just looks like an ordinary scientist to me. But he must have some meaning to Angel, because she spits at him, and refuses to eat the pounds of food in front of her that he is clearly offering. I want to do something, punch a scientist, read this guy's mind, but it is only a vision, or a dream or something, and I can only watch. I can clearly make out Angel's next words. "I HATE YOU." The man looks unsurprised. He reaches toward her as she shrinks back. I try to reach out to help Angel, but I can't do anything, and the vision fades to black…._


	14. OUCH WTF HAPPENED TO ME?

I jolt awake and feel a burning pain in my side. Looking down, I see blood.

"Ah! What the hell!?" I exclaim suddenly.

Immediately, the flock is up.

"What's wrong, Snow?" Asks Max.

I lift up the side of my shirt, where a deep gash about six inches long has been made. "Umm…. That."

Nudge, and Gazzy look sick. Fang raises his eyebrows, which is unlike him to show any emotion. Max looks concerned, and Iggy looks confused.

"Guys, have you forgotten the blindness?" He says.

Max guides Iggy's hand over to me and places it on my wound. I wince, as Max says "Better?"

Iggy's face turns grave. He gently rubs his hand over the wound.

"How deep?" Inquires Max.

He frowns. "About four inches. It's pretty bad, actually. About six inches wide, four inches deep. And stomachs bleed a lot."

I try to protest. "Guys, I self-heal, remember? And Angel is more important right now."

Everyone ignores me. Max starts to give orders.

"Iggy, stop the bleeding. Apply pressure."

"Nudge, go get more water. We're right next to a lake so it's a good time anyway."

"Fang, get out some bandages."

"Gazzy, help Nudge, I guess."

And then everyone moves, and I feel something IN my wound, moving or something. And yes, it felt weird, and yes, it was freaking painful. I groaned really loudly, and felt blood rush out even faster. Max takes the water from Nudge, and cleans away some blood, and Iggy keeps putting on pressure. Gazzy brings more water, which is used the same way, and finally, they bandage it. Iggy is covered in blood, and so is Max. My eyes meet Fang's, and for the first time, I can read his mind clearly.

_"Are you okay Snow?"_

_"Yeah Fang, I'm fine."_

_"…Good. I don't want to lose any more of my family."_

_"…..You think of me as your family?"_

I was touched.

_"We're all in this together, Snow."_

_"Isn't that from a cheesy movie?"_

_"It doesn't matter. Just know that we're all sticking together now. You're one of us."_

_"Thanks, Fang."_

_"…"_

_"Yep, there's the Fang I'm used to."_

Ten minutes later, I was able to sit up. Thankfully, I had healed fast. I was going to tell the flock about my visions, but Max was worried enough already…. Why were all these weird things happening to me? Max gently helped me to my feet.

"Snow, can you fly? I'm not sure-"

"Max, I'll be fine!"

"You have a giant cut in your side!"

"It'll heal!"

"Ugh! You're so stubborn Snow!"

"Remind you of anyone?" Fang snickers. Max glares at him. I take the opportunity to run out of the cave and take a running leap out. My side hurts, but it's a dull throbbing pain. I smile at Max and the others.

"Come on out, the wind is fine!" I laugh.

Nudge jumps out next, followed by Gazzy, Fang, Iggy, and finally Max. Max flies to the front, talking with Fang. Nudge smiles as she shows me how to fly like the hawks. Dipping my wings to catch the wind. I immediately catch on, laughing as I zip through the air. I must be going at least 150 miles an hour. It's amazing. Max signals everyone over, and we make a single file line, with me in the third spot.

"So guys, we are going to Death Valley, which is in California, we just passed through Arizona, it will take another couple of hours, I think. We're probably going to stop to get food, and-" and then Max fell.

"Well I guess injuring yourself is going around." I thought as I sped after Max. After a few seconds, I caught her, seeing Fang right above me. She was too big for me to carry, and my side still burned, so I put her into Fang's arms. She faintly moaned. Fang carried her back up, and for the next minutes, we just slowly flew on, all of us scared. Luckily, after ten minutes, she coughed. She opened her eyes as Nudge, Gazzy, and I breathed signs of relief. Fang smiled.

"Max, God, you're so heavy! What have you been eating, rocks?!"

"Why, is your head missing some?" Max croaked back.

I laughed. Max faintly smiled at me. She turned to Fang. "Find somewhere to land," She told him.

We flew down into a forest, landing gently in some trees. Fang floated gently to the ground, and placed Max down. After a few seconds, she promptly crawled into some bushes and threw up.

Nudge looks grossed out. Fang looked….well, he had no expression. Just looked like Fang. Iggy wrinkled his nose "I have a feeling I'm lucky to be blind at the moment."

I laughed. "Yep, it's not a pretty sight."

Max turned, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. "Well I feel better now."

"I should hope so. You just puked your guts out!" Exclaimed Gazzy.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired," Max said immediately. Lies.

_"Max what's wrong?" I asked into her mind. I heard her sigh inside her mind._

_"Well you can read my mind so there's no use keeping secrets anyway." _

_"Well I was just flying and thinking when suddenly this terrible pain shot into my head, and I fell. I saw all these weird images, and my head felt like it was going to explode. Then someone caught me and I passed out."_

_"I caught you," I replied quietly._

_"Thanks, Snow," she said._

Then I left her mind, leaving her in peace. I looked around. Everyone sat around, looking tired, especially Max.

"Why don't we all rest for a bit?" I suggested. "Max, you look exhausted."

"I'm fine-" she started to say but Fang cut her off.

"Snow is right, you need your sleep," he told her firmly. I knew she wouldn't argue with Fang. So she sighed loudly instead.

"Fine!" And she flipped onto her side and almost immediately fell asleep. Nudge found her own spot, curling up. Gazzy went over to Max and slept next to her. Fang just stared at me.

"I'll take first watch," I told him. I expected him to argue, but he just nodded and went to sleep, too.


	15. I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU GUYS LOVE MY NOTES

Hey yo peoples,

I just felt like I should put this note in here in case anyone's confused, and you probably are:

Okay so when Snow wakes up from this, she's going to have a giant gash in her side that's bleeding. This is because of the whitecoats, whenever she overuses her powers, they hurt her with machines that are controlling her from far away. Snow had that freaky dream, where she got punched at the end by Ella. That was actually Max in real life, just in case you were confused, but that voice on the phone was real in the dream, and it gave her a real warning. Something's going to happen about that later(FORSHADOWING!) but for now, Snow might keep getting hurt, but after awhile, as they get farther away and Snow gets stronger, she will stop getting hurt so much. Here's one more foreshadowing word for the future:

MILKSHAKE.

Okay so fly on guys,

Kate


	16. GETTING TO REALLY KNOW IGGY

I noticed that Iggy hadn't moved. "Iggy? You can go to sleep, I'll take first watch," I told him.

He shook his head. "Nah, I'm not tired."

I went over to him and sat down. For one weird reason, I found myself looking at his face. His eyes were blur, a dull blue, but still sharp. His nose wasn't too big, his mouth was set in a neutral line. His blond hair came to rest just below his neck, it was a little longer then most boys' hair but shorter then Fang's…..

"Snow?" Iggy's voice.

I snapped back to attention. "Sorry, what?"

He smiled. "I asked you what your favorite color was. I want to get to know you."

"Oh okay." I nodded. "My favorite color is red."

"Why?" He asked. "Because blood is red?"

I laughed a little. "Good guess, but no. Actually, I like red because it symbolizes everything to me; war, love, happiness, cruelty…..red represents it all. The good and bad. Life isn't a fairytale. It is what it is." I realized I had been blabbering and I stopped.

He nodded. "Makes my favorite color seem lame."

"What's your favorite color?" I asked him with interest.

He smiled. "Well before I went blind…." I winced.

"I loved green. Evergreen, not too dark or light. Right in the middle."

"Why?" I asked. Green always depressed me. That meant someone would die at the school, when they got a green card.

"The trees. They were green. Nature, freedom…..That's all I ever wanted," He said wistfully.

I didn't expect Iggy to be so…what was the word I'm looking for? Deep? Intuitive? He made jokes, was sarcastic, but was a really sweet guy on the inside…..

"Snow? You're drifting off again." Iggy's voice snapped me back to reality.

"Sorry," I apologized quickly.

"So….what do you want to be when you grow up?" He asked me.

"Alive," I told him immediately. It wasn't a joke.

"No, like as a job?" He repeated the question differently.

I sighed. "I never considered it, really. I don't even know if I'll live that long….."

Iggy grabbed my hand gently, holding my hand. "Of course you're going to live that long," He said reassuringly. "I won't let you die. Neither will the rest of the flock."

I smiled a little. "Thanks Iggy, good to know. So," I continued. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"A prostitute," He answered, his face completely serious.

That's when I lost it. I burst out laughing so hard, I was afraid I'd wake the others up. He had a look of mock hurt on his face.

"You don't think I'd be a good prostitute?"

I burst out laughing again before collecting my cool. "No Ig, you'd be great, I'd totally hire you!"

He beamed, and then we both lost it. The flock awoke a few minutes later, probably confusing as to why Ig and I were laughing our heads off.

**Hey guys, Kate here:**

**Sorry about the short chapter, I just wanted to put the "Iggy and Snow getting to know each other" part into it's own chapter. After this, Snow and Iggy will just be friends, but best friends, they will hardly ever fight. I plan on rewriting all of the Maximum Ride books with Snow in it. Throughout the series, I plan to have them mildly flirt, and Snow will realize her feelings for Iggy much later. But for no, no flirting! They're just best friends... so no Siggy action for awhile. : D**


	17. WE GET THE BEST THING EVER-BACON

Nudge groaned, her hair a mess. Fang looked at us with his non-expressive face. Gazzy rubbed sleep out of his eyes and Max glares at us. "We're trying to sleep, guys."

"We need to go anyway," I say matter of factly. I didn't realize it but Iggy and I talked for an hour.

Max looked up at the sun that was rising. "All right," She agreed.

Fang looked at her with concern. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked her. She nodded.

Reluctantly, Fang moved on, grabbing some money and going to the store to get breakfast. I grabbed my black and red backpack as behind me came a voice. "That backpack makes you look so badass. But I know you're just a softie inside." Iggy.

I turned and pushed him but not hard. "Call me a softie again, and you'll be deaf, too," I threaten, but I'm laughing so it doesn't sound sincere. I continue packing before saying "And I know I look badass," and walking on.

Nudge comes over to me, her hair still a mess. She must be really exhausted because she hasn't said a word. I smile gently at her. "Nudge, what's up with your hair?"

"Too tired to fix it," She mumbles.

"I happen to have some hair accessories that Ella gave me," I said in a sing-song voice.

She looked up immediately. "Let me see."

…..

Five minutes later, Nudge had combed her hair and put in a bunch of barrettes and other stuff. And she was babbling again. "Wow Snow, these are really nice clips! Where did this Ella girl buy them? I could buy them! But do we have money? I don't know…"

JUST KILL ME NOW.

Sorry Nudge, you're awesome, but please, just know when to shut up. Fang landed with some bags of food. I was grateful for the distraction. "Fang! You're back!" I smiled and flew over to him. He nodded at me, which is Fang talk for "yeah." He pulled out the food, which consisted of:

BACON

Eggs

Doughnuts

Protein Bars

Water Bottles and

Bagels

"YAY FOOD!" I yelled.

That even brought a smile to Fang's face.

….A COUPLE MINUTES HAVE PASSED…..

Once the fire was blaring, Iggy took a pan out of his backpack.

"Do you always carry that around?" I asked in surprise.

"Yep," he replied casually.

"Want me to help cook?" I offered. He looked surprised.

"You can cook?" He asked in shock. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, they taught me when I was nine how to cook everything."

"Wow…..so you're good?"

"Hell yeah." I took a bandanna out of my backpack, (you're not the only one with secrets Iggy!) and tied it around my forehead.

"Let's cook," I smiled and cracked an egg into the pan. Iggy smiled as he opened up the bacon packages and began mentally dividing. I flipped the egg with my hand, don't worry my hands are somewhat clean. I took out the egg and put it on a pate as Iggy added six pieces of bacon to the pan. They sizzled as we continued working.

…..TEN MINUTES LATER…

The flock flocked(haha) over to the smell of bacon and eggs. I swear, Gazzy was drooling a bit. Iggy quickly dished up the servings, giving everyone six eggs and eight pieces of bacon. The flock, including me, dug into our food and finished after a minute. Max smiled. "Looks like we have another cook in the family."

I blushed. "Well we needed a win after you tried to cook, Max." Oh Iggy.

I expected Max to roll your eyes or something but she must have been a REALLY BAD cook, because she just nodded in agreement. The flock packed up and we were off. Again. About time, too.

…TIME GOES ON….

We flew for another six hours, but by that time, we were all starving again. We landed, looking for a place to eat when suddenly, a car drove by and we ducked into the bushes. The guy stopped his car at an ATM, like those things that give you money. He was on the phone, yelling at somebody. I didn't catch what he said, but Nudge glared at him. "Jerk," she muttered. I nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, before the guy even got his money, another car pulled up and the window rolled down. My breath got stuck in my throat. Erasers. The one in the driver's seat had some spray painted green hair…was that Ari?

"What'd you say, dipstick?" Hissed Ari, showing a wolfy grin.

The guy looked terrified. He jumped back into his car and drove off. Even though I hated Erasers, I loved that this guy ran in fear of them. He was a jerk. The Erasers went after that guy. Leaving just the flock, an ATM, and a bank card.

I grinned. "Yes!" I hissed under my breath, and ran over to the ATM. The flock followed. "His card's still in here!" I exclaimed excitedly. "Take all his money!"

Gazzy laughed and Max nodded. She turned to the machine. "We're gonna be rich, oh yeah," Nudge was chanting.

Turns out it only will give you two hundred dollars maximum at a time. But that was still a lot of money. So Max pushed "Yes," as in "Give me the money now." But the thing said "Type in your access code for security purposes."

Max cursed under her breath. "Did anyone see it?" She asked hopefully.

"I heard it," Iggy replied slowly.

"Well, c'mon Ig, try to put it in," Max gently encouraged Iggy, leading his hands to the ATM. He hesitated for a moment. I smiled reassuringly at him, although he couldn't see it. He typed in four numbers. The machine beeped, incorrect answer, and told us we only had one more guess.

"Come on Iggy," I say softly.

He nods, and tries again. His fingers push "4, 5, 2, 9." The machine does nothing for a moment. Then it starts spitting out twenties.

"YAY!" Nudge cheers.

Max grabs the money coming out, as does Fang, and we run for it, bursting into the air. We rise through the air. For a minute, we fly in silence before Nudge says "Max? I'm tired…and hungry."

Max sighs. "I know sweetie. We're going to land in a couple minutes."

…..A COUPLE OF MINUTES LATER…..


	18. ERASERS SEEM TO LIKE FAST FOOD

…..A COUPLE OF MINUTES LATER…..

We landed behind a gas station. Max goes inside and orders eighteen bags of chips plus twelve bottles of water. She comes outside, and we grab all the food and eat. We drain our water bottles and eat our chips. And I'm still a little hungry. But I wait for Max's orders. When we finish eating, she gathers us together. "Okay guys, we're almost in California, where Angel is. We're probably going to fly, I just-"

"Max," Nudge breaks in. "My wings ache."

"Me too," chimes in Gazzy.

"Same here," adds Iggy.

I raise my hand and nod. Max looks to Fang. He nods as well.

She looks frustrated. "Then what do we do?"

Just then, like magic a guy parks his car, and walks away, just leaving it there…..

I look at Max and know that we're thinking the same thing.

"Stealing a car? That's low, even for us," Max says.

"Then we'll just…borrow it," I offer. "We'll leave some money or something….."

Max sighs. "Let's go."

…TEN MINUTES LATER…

Max pumps the gas. Finally the car starts and Iggy slams the hood shut, covered in car grease. He squeezes in the back with us. This car is a minivan, intended to seat eight people so luckily, we all fit. Nudge and Gazzy sit in the individual middle seats, and Iggy and I sit together in the back. Max is driving, and Fang is sitting shotgun. I hope to God Max knows how to drive.

…..A FEW HOURS LATER…

Max veered the car again, making us all fall to the right. "Max, why are you driving!?" Screams Iggy.

"Because I'm the oldest," she replied, straightening out the car so that we all fall back into normal positions.

I rub a bump on my back. "Max, I'm hungry," I say.

She nods. "Me too. I'll find a place soon.

"Okay!" Choruses everyone from the middle and back. (Me, Gazzy, Nudge, Iggy)

…A FEW MINUTES LATER…..

Max carefully backs into a spot. Gazzy practically jumps out of the minivan. "I'm alive!" He exclaims. We all laugh, except Max of course, but eventually she joins in. We walk inside, and it smells like burgers and fries. Thank you fast food heaven.

We wait in line. I'm so hungry I can barely stand it, but I wait and let Fang order a couple burgers, and let Iggy order the same thing, then it's finally my turn, thank god. I smile at the cashier. "Hey, I'll have six bacon cheeseburgers, two large fries, one large onion ring, four chocolate milkshakes, and a large lemonade." She types out my order. Max orders some food for Nudge, who apparently has stopped eating meat….but she ate the bacon we made before….oh well, whatever. The Max orders for herself, and Gazzy orders, and we finally get our food a couple minutes later. We ordered so much food, it takes up six trays. We each grab a tray, find a table, and then eat away. For five minutes, all you could hear was us eating. Kind of gross, but still. Why was it so quiet? Oh…..I slowly realized that all of the people around us were gone, replaced by young good looking males. And yes, it's a bad thing because they were Erasers


	19. MILKSHAKES ARE GREAT WEAPONS AND FOOD

Max realized it at the same time I did.

"Nudge, Gazzy, Snow, when I say go, burst out that side door, I'll be right behind you guys with Fang and Iggy," Max said so quietly I also didn't hear her.

I acted casual, Nudge took another sip of her shake, Gazzy reached for another fry. When Max whispered "go!" I was right out the door, with Nudge right behind me and Gazzy in front. And of course, I brought my chocolate milkshake. We burst out of the door and to the car. It was unlocked, and as we got in I saw Erasers starting to morph, and Max, Fang, and Iggy running to the car. They got in and the car roared to life as Max hit the gas. "Go!" Fang yelled, and Max tried but as she backed up she hit something. Nudge screamed. I think we hit an Eraser. Max put it into drive and zoomed into traffic. This time, we all screamed except Fang, but he wasn't one to scream. Max managed not to hit anybody or anything and we zoomed onto a less busy road. I stuck my milkshake straw into my mouth, downing half of it in six seconds. Iggy looked at me in disbelief.

"What? It's a good milkshake," I protested. Even though it was a life or death situation, Iggy laughed a little, I saw him smile. And I'm sorry, I didn't intend to make this a romance story, but I fell in love….WITH MY MILKSHAKE!

HAA! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE! YOU THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO SAY IGGY!

We're just friends. Best friends. God people, why do all stories have to be love stories these days? The car shook as the Erasers next to us tried to run us over or something. Gazzy and Nudge screamed. Max zoomed into a cornfield. "Did we lose them?" She panted.

As soon as we came out of the cornfield, a car started coming at the side of us.

"I'll take that as a NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed as we got hit.

…ONLY LIKE FIVE SECONDS GO BY….

I sat up groggily. "Everyone okay?" Max.

"I'm okay," I croaked. I had hit my nose on the seat in front of me and my nose was bleeding a little but I was fine besides that. Max's nose looked broken, I couldn't see, and I hear a yell. "FLOCK, UP AND AWAY!" Then a punch.

"MAX!" I screamed, as the dust cleared. Fang was grabbed next as I tried to fly up. I started to rise as an Eraser reached for Iggy who was rising. My eyes burned with fury. "Oh no you don't," I thought angrily and threw my milkshake right at his face and heard a delightful cracking sound. Wow I had no idea milkshakes were good weapons. A good note for the future.

Iggy rose as the Eraser grabbed me. I kicked and got away for a second, and used that time to boost up Gazzy so he got away too. Then the Eraser punched me and dragged me out, slamming me on the ground next to Nudge. I saw Iggy and Gazzy flying away and smiled. Max smiled too, and was kicked in the face. I growled, and with my inhuman strength broke free and punched that Eraser in the face. He fell down, surprised, as I stepped on his waist, breaking the skin. That was as far as I got before I was grabbed by a bunch of Erasers and kicked and kicked harder until I passed out…..

…LIKE FORTY MINUTES HAVE GONE BY…

I sat up, feeling sore. Where was I? I tried to stretch, to look around, but I was tightly bound in rope, and I did not possess the strength at the moment to break free. "We're here! Back at home, Snow," A voice growled near me. Fuck. : (

**Hey guys!**

**So I realize that chapters... what are we on...18 and 19... They were pretty short, that's why I posted them at the same time.**

**MILKSHAKE finally came. Hope you guys laughed. I loved writing that Snow fell in love... with her milkshake. And milkshakes are great weapons, and great food.**

**So Snow, Max, Nudge, and Fang are going back to the School, where we'll meet up with Angel, discover some things about Jeb(relating to Snow), and formally meet Ari, and happily use hawk power to kick his ass. Okay, looking forward to it!**

**Fly on,**

**Kate**


	20. I FUCKING HATE JEB! YOU'LL SEE WHY

…ANOTHER FEW MINUTES….

I was dragged into the School, pushed down a hallway, shoved in a crate, before they finally removed my gag and bonds. I turned to the left slightly to see…..ANGEL!

"Oh my gosh Angel!" I exclaimed, turning toward her. She turned as well, smiling slightly.

"Angel, are you okay?" I asked her.

Her mouth quivered. "I'm okay, I guess…."

Then on the other side, Max, Fang, and Nudge were dragged in and put in cages. Angel turned to her.

"Max!" She exclaimed happily.

"Angel! Oh my gosh, sweetie are you okay!? Is anything wrong?!" Max looked close to crying. She reached out her fingers through the cage, trying to touch Angel's fingers, but she couldn't reach.

Angel nodded. "Nothing's that bad except you got a large size cage. I only got a MEDIUM."

She was so brave. I smiled slightly, forgetting the fact that we were at the School again. Angel was okay, and we were together, and Iggy and Gazzy could save us. I needed to signal them.

_I concentrated as hard as I could. Iggy….Iggy…..Iggy…_

_"Snow!" His voice was worried. "Snow, are you guys okay? What about Angel, we're coming to rescue you soon, okay?"_

_"Yeah, we're okay for now. Angel's right here, she's okay too, just underfed and stuff…Hurry up Prince Charming." I sent him a sarcasm smile._

_He laughed in his head. "Okay, we're coming."_

The connection broke. I laid back, exhausted. Angel looked at me curiously. "What was that, Snow?"

"Messaged Iggy….doing long distance mind reading is exhausting." I smiled gently at her.

She gave me a look of awe. "I've never tried to send one that far before."

"I have," I smiled. "Once."

I remembered signaling Angel when she was first kidnapped…I was so worried. I was still worried.

I smiled at her. "I'll help you control your mind powers. I learned to use mine years ago."

She smiled. _"Thanks Snow, I would like that."_

_"No problem," I sent back into her head._

Then I heard nothing. I looked at Angel. She looked paralyzed with fear, her mouth slightly open but nothing coming out. Tears leaked out of her eyes as the man from my vision walked past my cage and over to Max's.

"Oh Maximum Ride, how I've missed you," he smiled warmly.

_Who the fuck is he?! And anyway, I remember that voice from before, saying "Snow….I miss you so much….come back to me…." Was that this guy? If not, who was that? He sounds familiar, have I met him before?_

_I DON'T EVEN FUCKING KNOW AND WHO THE FUCK IS HE I CAN'T EVEN READ HIS FUCKING MIND WHY THE FUCK CAN'T I!?(When Snow gets pissed, she curses a lot. Younger peoples should not say that word. All right. Goodbye now._

The guy opened Max's cage for her and led her down the hall. She shot me a conflicted glance. What the hell was going on?

"Who was that guy?" I asked Nudge.

She looked at me with worry. "Jeb Batchelder."

I felt angry at the mention of the name, even though the name was unfamiliar. "How is he related to you guys?"

Nudge sniffed. She was crying a little. "Years ago, he broke us out of here. We got to live with him and he was nice. He was like a dad but he disappeared and we thought he died but he's a…a…..a TRAITOR!"

She burst into tears. My blood boiled. I knew him.

_The middle of that night, as Jeb was helping Max and the others, he found me. _

_"Who are you?" I had asked him. He had barely glanced at me, and tried to move onto the next door, but he was stuck in my room. I knew how to unlock the door, but I was stuck in the cage. He groaned in frustration. _

_"I know how to open that door," I had said, my voice shaking a little. He had looked at me quickly and opened my cage door. _

_"Open it, now!" He commanded me. But I wanted something._

_ "Get me out of here," I asked him. He turned to me in confusion. _

_"What?"_

_"You heard me, take me with you," I asked again, looking at the kids in front of me._

_He sighed. "Fine."_

_I had squealed in delight. Happily, I typed in the combination and started to turn around. But then I was hit in the back of the head with a pipe, and I had forgotten the whole thing the next day thanks to that bump. _

**But I remembered now.**

I put a hand to the back of my head, feeling the small bump. It hurt. I growled in frustration. "AGHHHHHH!" I screamed.

Fang looked alarmed. "Snow, please calm down."

But I couldn't. I wouldn't. "He left me for dead!" I screeched. "He took you and left me to suffer!"

Angel tried to calm me, but it didn't work, I hated him, I HATED HIM!

Jeb came back with Max. She looked annoyed and angry. I was glad. But Jeb was here, and I wanted revenge.

"YOU LYING BASTARD!" I screamed at him. He glanced at me. "YOU TOLD ME YOU'D TAKE ME WITH YOU!" I screeched with all of my pent-up anger. His face turned harsh.

"I didn't need you," he snapped. "I only needed them. The USEFUL bird kids."

Ohhh…he did not just say that.


	21. A THIRD NOTE CUZ YOU GUYS LOVE THESE

Hey guys!

So you're probably disappointed right now because you were expecting Snow to lose it, and attack Jeb, and instead you got an author's note. Don't worry, it's coming next chapter.

I just wanted to say that my first book is coming to an end in about 10-14 chapters, I'll try to make them longer, which will start my second book, Snow The Winged Girl Book Two, which is the second book in the Max Ride series but with Snow, of course.

Okay so I'll update soon, actually I might update right now cuz I'm kind of bored.

Anyway, hope you guys like the story, REVIEW AND FAVORITE AND ALL THAT STUFFS.

Fly on,

Kate


	22. ESCAPING THAT FUCKED UP PLACE

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed and lashed out, breaking my cage. I jumped at Jeb as he spoke into an intercom, calling for backup. I tackled him to the ground and punched him in the face over and over and over. Blood spurted out of his broken nose, his bloody lip. He had a black eye. It took a minute for anyone to come, and it was twelve Erasers who grabbed me and I fought but not strong enough. One of them punched me in the stomach and I fell. They laughed as Angel, and Nudge screamed and cried, and Max and Fang looked angry. They continued beating me up until I fell, unable to breathe.

"Maybe you'll get lucky and die, bird freak," One of them hissed in my ear.

I couldn't feel my left arm, and I had two black eyes and so many wounds it hurt to move. But I did move. Because I was Snow and I was awesome. (that's called self-confidence, people.)"If I'm a bird freak," I snarled. "What does that make you!" And with a snarl I jumped up, kicking him where it counts. As he howled in pain, I spit blood at him. One of them grabbed my arm and I bit him. With a howl of pain, he fell down and a whitecoat appeared with a syringe. But I was too slow…..they grabbed my arm and injected me. And with that done, my world faded to black, and the sound of Nudge's screaming.

….TIME GOES ON…..MAYBE LIKE A COUPLE HOURS….

I awoke. Was I in a cage? Yes. Where was I? I looked around. Outside. Where outside? Snow, do you really want to know? I already knew. This was where they had almost killed me to test my new self-healing. It was full of Erasers. A slaughterhouse. There was a giant cart wheeled in with four dog crates on it.

_"Max," I sent her a thought, but I was still weak._

_"Snow! Are you okay?" Max sounded really concerned._

_I smiled. "I'm okay. Self-Healing, remember?"_

_She nodded. "You still….you still look like crap though."_

_I tried to stretch in the cage but it was too small. "Still feel like crap, too."_

_She smiled a little. "God, I hope we don't die now. Angel's too young to die…and we're too young, too."_

_I sighed. "If they're killing anyone, it'll be me. But I won't let them hurt you guys."_

_Max looked alarmed. "Snow, No! I-"_

I stopped the connection. I knew what I would have to do, if the situation became dire. Hopefully Iggy and Gazzy would be here soon, so that I could live for another day. An Eraser came over to me.

"Snow." He grinned toothily. "Today's your big day! You're finally going to die!" Then he cackled.

I rolled my eyes. "You wish, dog boy. But I would run away now if I were you."

He laughed. "You think I'm scared of a 13 year old girl?"

"No." I smiled. "I think you're afraid of a 13 year old bird kid who was designed for speed and murder. That just happens to be me."

He backed away a few steps. "Aww…" I said in a baby voice. "Is wittle Ari scared?"

I heard a faint sound. Looking up, I saw hawks in the distance, followed by Iggy and Gazzy. Wow. That's a really good plan.

"No," Ari insists.

"Well you should be," I smirk at him. "Look behind you."

Scoffing, he does and what he sees stops him. About 80 hawks have come to our aid.

Ari looks surprised and gets angry and begins tearing into my cage. He has succeeded in ripping it open and slashes me once and is about to slash me again when a hawk slashes his wrist open. Ha ha.

He screams in pain as I punch him, dazing him, and run to Max's cage. Being smarter than the average bear, it only takes me a few seconds to open it. She rolls out of her cage and runs to free Angel.

Meanwhile, I start punching, kicking, and just beating up all the scientists and Erasers around me. I free Nudge and Max frees Fang. Iggy and Gazzy are waiting for us in the sky. I've never been so happy to see him. I fly up and watch Max help Angel fly up, Fang flying up, followed by Nudge. Thank god everyone's safe.

"Nice going Ig," I call out, fist bumping him.

"I'm just that awesome." He smiles but stops as he sees me wince in pain.

"Snow, what happened?" He asks in horror.

I wince again. "Erasers. Erasers happened."

Then I smile weakly. "Don't worry, I can fly myself."

…TIME PASSES….LIKE FOUR HOURS OR SO…

I see the cave up ahead, thank god, my side hurts so bad.

I collapse in the cave and everyone huddles around me and Angel. Max hugs Angel tightly, and they're both crying.

"I thought I'd never see you again, Max," Angel whimpered, as Max held her.

"Of course we'd come to get you," Max replied. "We'd never stop trying."

I smile faintly. "Hey Max?"

She looks up. "Yeah, Snow how are you feeling?"

I felt confused. "Crappy." And then I pass out.


	23. CHEAP SELF HEALING AND TAG

….TIME PASSES AND SNOW IS KNOCKED OUT BECAUSE SHE GOT SLASHED AND IT HURTS BUT DON'T WORRY, SHE HAS EXTREMELY CHEAP SELF-HEALING TO HELP HER OUT…...

"Ugh…" My head is spinning. Why am I always injured?

I look around. Everyone is sleeping except Iggy. He smiles at me. "Hey Snow, you're up."

"Yeah." I don't know how else to reply.

"Nudge wanted to stay up and wait for you but she was too exhausted," Iggy smiles a bit.

"Why are you guys so tired? Please don't tell me you were up for twenty four hours taking care of me," I moan.

Iggy looks surprised. "Snow, you've only been passed out for fifteen minutes. And I checked your side, you perfectly healed five minutes ago."

I look down and lift up my shirt a little. Sure enough, there is only a small white scar where Ari slashed me. Huh.

"Then why are you guys so tired?" I ask.

"Well at the School, Angel, Max, Fang, and Nudge were in dog crates, it's hard to sleep in one unless you're really exhausted. And Gazzy was too scared to sleep. I took a short nap before we went to save you guys." Iggy explained.

"Well I'm fine now, where are we going next?" I asked impatiently.

Iggy shrugged. "How should I know? Max is the leader."

I shrugged back and sighed. "I'm going to go fly for a bit." I got up from my position and stretched a little.

Iggy put his hand on my arm, stopping me. "You aren't seriously going….. without me are you?" He asked, his eyes twinkling.

I rolled my eyes. "Do you want to come Mr. Iggy?"

He shrugged. "Nah."

I smirked. "Fine. I'll just have fun with my hawk friends. HEY JIM!" I yelled outside. All of the hawks squawked back at me in response. I ran out of the cave, extending my mostly white wings, which were miraculously not hurt in any way. They looked perfect and clean. I turned around and looked down at Iggy, who gave me a half smile and extended his wings, whitish blonde and shining in the sun.

"I thought you didn't want to come!" I called out, doing a corkscrew through some hawks.

"Changed my mind," he replied casually. He flew over to me and hit me in the head with his wing.

"Tag, you're It," he grinned.

I gave him a mischievous smile, which he couldn't see…. Kind of defeats the purpose. Anyway, I think he could sense it or something because he shot away in a blur of feathers. Laughing, I sped after him. He shot around a cloud, and I was going too fast to stop, so I flew right into it.

"Gross!" I yelled, trying to get off the clammy feeling from my skin.

"Snow?" Iggy called. I realized that he couldn't see me through the cloud. Well, he couldn't see in general, but he couldn't SENSE me through the cloud. Quickly and quietly, I snuck around the cloud, where Iggy was. He called my name again, looking confused. I lunged forward.

"HA! YOU'RE IT!" I yelled victoriously, hitting him in the back with my wing, and sped back to the cave.

….A FEW MINUTES PASS….

I rushed into the cave, where the others were still sleeping. I wasn't tired, even after flying, but I knew I had to get some rest, so I curled up in a corner and fell asleep to the sound of Gazzy's gentle snores, and Nudge's muttering.

_Dream:_

_Max got up from a hammock. She looked determinedly toward the left, as Fang grabbed her arm, trying to stop her, and Angel's eyes filled with tears. They were trying to stop Max but she ignored them. She hugged Angel, and pointed at a boy I didn't know. He was tall, with perfectly tanned skin, bright blue eyes, and sandy brown hair. The boy grabbed Angel by the hand, but still tried to argue with Max. She yelled at him, and flew off. After a second, Fang flew after her. There was a giant tornado forming, but it wasn't natural. Max flew towards it, Fang on her heels._

_"No…." I thought helplessly. I could already predict what would happen. Max and Fang flew towards the storm, and it threw them around and around before throwing them down. They looked alive, but beat up. They needed help….._

_(_**Yes, for you geniuses out there, that was a scene from the end of Nevermore.)**

**Hey guys!**

**So I know that was short but I thought it was a good ending point so I ended the chapter there. So Snow has a vision that goes into the far future, the boy she doesn't know is Dylan, duh. So Snow was designed to beat Max and her flock, but she wants to save them. So what she is doing is doing whatever she can to stop that future, and save the world. Even if it means giving up her own life.**

**That's how awesome she is. : D**

**So anyway, **

**Fly on,**

**Kate**


	24. YOU'RE FUCKING KIDDING ME NOW, RIGHT?

With a gasp, I woke up. I looked around me. Max was awake, and so was Fang. Iggy, Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy were all still sleeping. Max smiled at me, and came over.

"Snow? What's wrong, did you have a nightmare?" She asked in concern.

"Umm….. yeah, I guess," I replied. It wasn't a nightmare. I knew it had to be a vision. I'd been getting them a lot lately. I didn't know when that would happen, or how. I just knew that I had to stop it. At any cost. Even at the cost of my own life. (Wow, that's really dramatic. But true.)

"Do you want to talk about it?" Max asked me, gently rubbing my back in between my wings.

"No, not really…." I told her, frowning.

"Okay, Fang and I were just discussing where to go next," she smiled reassuringly at me.

"Okay," I replied.

She walked back over to Fang, who sat…. stoically. They talked softly, and I sat quietly as the rest of the flock woke up, one by one.

When Angel woke up, she looked scared for a minute, then relaxed. I guess she dreamed about the School.

Nudge smiled at me as she combed her hair. She didn't say much, which was weird.

Gazzy had a bad dream, I think it was about Erasers killing all of us. Dark dream. Max and Iggy were trying to calm him.

"Snow?" an angelic voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Yeah, Angel?" I asked.

She smiled sweetly. "Could you braid my hair?"

I felt sheepish. "I'm sorry, I don't know how."

"Ooh! I do!" chimed in Nudge.

"Where did you learn that?" I asked.

"From the Internet," she replied matter-of-factly.

Then she showed me how to braid hair, using Angel's hair as the test subject.

…A FEW MINUTES GO BY…..

"So it's three pieces, and you bring the one on the left to the middle, and then the one on the right to the middle, and then do it again, with the new hair on the sides?" I ask, after attempting braiding for the eighth time.

"Yes!" Nudge claps her hands in delight. "You got it!"

"Wow, you're excited," I note.

"Nudge is always excited. Well, she's always hyper," smiled Angel.

Nudge pouts. "That's not true!"

"It kind of is," I point out. She frowns.

"Well I blame my parents. Genes are passed down, right?" Nudge asked for clarification.

"I don't think talkativeness is a gene that can be passed down," I smiled.

Angel looks pained. "Guys, I have something important to tell you. Really important. Everybody." She looks pointedly at Max.

(**Okay it kinda makes sense that Angel would bring this up because Nudge is talking about parents and genes.)**

Max walked over and pulled Angel onto her lap. "Of course. What is it sweetie?" She asked gently.

Angel's eyes were full of pain. "Okay, so….at the School, I heard things. In people's minds. About where we came from."

Nudge gasped. "I know I was a human baby, I know it!"

"Nudge, let Angel talk," Max scolded quietly.

"No, she's right," Angel gasped out. "We came from human mothers."

No one spoke for a few seconds. Then Fang spoke, breaking the silence. "What did you hear about us?"

Angel sniffed. "Umm…..well Nudge….she was born and the doctors told her mom Nudge died, but she didn't."

Nudge sniffled, her eyes brimming with tears. "I did have a mother," she whispered. "I did. I knew it."

I wrapped my arms around her, comforting her with a hug. She sat down and cried, and I sat with her, trying hard not to cry myself.

"And Iggy.."Angel continued. "His mom…died. When he was born." She took in another shuddering breath.

Iggy turned away, his normally sharp blue eyes now dull. I wanted to comfort him, too, but Nudge kept crying, so I stayed next to her.

"Fang," Angel frowned. "Your mom was a teenager. She gave you up for adoption."

Fang broke the stick he was holding, his eyes turning dark and cold.

"What about us?" asked Gazzy, looking small and sad.

Angel burst into tears. "Our parents sold us for money!" She sobbed, and cried even harder. Gazzy looked taken back, and his eyes filled with tears, too. Max gathered them both into her arms. I felt bad for everyone but I needed to know…..

_"Angel?" I projected into her mind._

_I heard a sniffle. "Yeah?"_

_I almost couldn't get out the words. "Did….did you hear anything…about me?"_

_She sniffled again. "Yeah. I'm so sorry." Then I could hear her tears bursting out in her mind._

_"Angel, what did you hear?" I ask gently. I just needed to know._

_"Well, your parents….they're dead. Missing," Angel told me sadly._

_"What?! How!?" I practically screamed at her in my mind._

_"I don't know…I think they were gone and the whitecoats took you because they found you, and later they found the dead bodies of your parents, who had been murdered and robbed, I think."_

_"…."_

_"Snow? I'm really sorry…."_

I said nothing. I didn't want….I didn't need to deal with this right now.

"Guys, I'm sorry, but I need a break," I said shortly, and started for the exit of the cave.

"Snow? What are you talking about?" Max's voice was genuinely confused.

"I just…. Can't be here. Maybe I'll see you guys in a couple weeks; I need to clear my head, take some time by myself. I can always track you guys down again when I need to find you guys. I just….I know it's stupid, but….that's me. I'm stupid," I can't stop the tiny tear that rolls down my check as I turn away, and fly, without looking back.

…..A QUICK MAX POV….I JUST WANT YOU GUYS TO SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE FLOCK AFTER SNOW LEAVES…..

"What did you do?!" I practically scream at Angel. I know, mean. But Snow had just listened to Angel, and then left. No explanation. Snow was gone, left us in the blink of an eye. She was my family now, Nudge and Iggy's best friend, she felt like my sister…..

"I just…. Told her what she asked me to," Angel replied, horror stricken.

"WHAT-DID-YOU-TELL-HER!?" I yell.

"I just told her what happened to her parents!" Angel yelled back. "I didn't know she would take it that badly!"

"What happened to her parents?" Asks Nudge.

Angel shakes her head. "They're dead. They were robbed and murdered, all that was left was Snow, and the scientists took her, too."

My eyes widen. "Oh my god….."

Angel's bursts into tears. "I'm sorry! She asked so I told her what I knew!"

I immediately feel bad. "Oh Angel, I'm sorry for yelling at you. But Snow is gone…"

Nudge bursts into tears. "Max, we have to find her!"

I clear my throat. "No."

Everyone stares at me in shock. "You don't want to find her?" Iggy asks.

"No, I do, it's just…. She doesn't want to be found. She needs time to cool off, to cope with what she just heard. We'll keep moving on with our plan," I nod at Fang. "And Snow will find us later. I know she will."

Everyone nodded. But I didn't know if I believed it myself.


	25. LET IT GO(YES, THE FREAKING SONG)

BACK TO SNOW:

I kept flying, my wings beating faster and faster. I needed to get away, from the flock, from my thoughts. I needed to…. Let it go.

**(Do you really want me to write that song here? Really? Fine, I'll do it.)**

EPIC SONG REFERENCE: (_Italics: Lyrics, _**Bold: Snow's thoughts to song)**

_The snow glows white on the mountain tonight,_

_Not a footprint, to be seen. _**I'm all alone**

_A kingdom of isolation,_** yeah still alone**

_And it looks like, I'm the queen._** I get it! Forever alone with my thoughts!**

_The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside,_

_Couldn't keep it in,_** yeah I couldn't**

_Heaven knows I, tried. _**I didn't really try that hard actually, to keep it in**

_Don't let them in, _**Shut them out**

_Don't let them see._** That's the way it's always been**

_Be the good girl, you always have to be. _**I have to be perfect, but I'm not**

_Conceal, don't feel, _**I can't show people who I really am…. Wings or no wings.**

_Don't let them knowwwww…_

_Well now they knowwwwww.. _**Oh they already know. That's not good.**

_Let it go_

_Let it go_

_Can't hold it back anymore._** I don't want to hold back anymore**

_Let it go_

_Let it go_

_Turn away and slam the door! _**Nobody gives a fuck what you say, scientists!**

_And I don't care,_

_What they're going to say. _**Hell yeah, I don't**

_Let the storm rage on,_

_The cold never bothered me anyway. _**And I keep on living(for now, anyway)**

_'MUSICNESS'_

_It's funny how some distance,_

_Makes everything seem small. _**The further I get from the flock, and the scientists, the clearer my mind is I guess….**

_And the fears that once controlled me,_

_Can't get to me at all! _**I used to be fearless….I can be fearless again**

_It's time to see what I can do,_

_To test the limits, and break through! _**Bring it on, bitches! I'm ready!**

_No right, no wrong,_

_No rules for me! _**Yeah that pretty much sums it up**

_I'm free!_

_Let it go_

_Let it go_

_I am one with the wind and sky._** Literally. : D**

_Let it go_

_Let it go_

_You'll never see me cry!_** Actually, people have already seen me cry, so…..**

_Here I stand,_

_And here I'll stay._

_Let the storm rage on….._** Life goes on, and I don't give a damn.**

_'MORE MUSIC AND AN ICE CASTLE COMING OUT OF THE GROUND'_

_My power flurries through the air into the ground! _**Power….**

_My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around! _**More Power…**

_And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast! _**Power? Didn't see that coming….**

_I'm never going back! _**Actually, I think I will go back one day**

_The past is in the past! _**Yeah, I need to get over it**

_Let it go_

_Let it go_

_And I'll rise like the break of dawn!_** Literally rising**

_Let it go_

_Let it go_

_That perfect girl is gone! _**I was never perfect, but I'm even less perfect now, so say whatever you want**

_Here I stand,_

_In the light of day!_

_Let the storm rage_

_ONNNNNNNNNNNNNN!_

_The cold never bothered me anyway. _**I can't let it bother me. I need to move on.**


	26. ELDERLY PEOPLE R COOL

**Okay first I just want to say that I know that the song was stupid but here's the actual story now.**

**I just wrote the words "Let it Go" and then I was like "EPIC SONG REFERENCE!" but whatever.**

**So back to the story:**

I smiled and opened my eyes, wondering where the wind had taken me. It looked like…..that one below New York? The state? New Joesey? No, New Jersey! That's what it was! I flew over cities; Edison, New Brunswick, Highland Park, finally landing in Cape May, next to a harbor. It was quiet and peaceful, after all, it was 3 in the morning. I curled up on the dock and went to sleep, planning to find a better place to sleep in the morning.

….THE NEXT MORNING….

Something poked me with something. "Hey, who the hell are you?"

I would have replied, but he pushed me into the twelve foot deep, frigid water. As I fell, I realized something. I don't know how to fucking swim!

Just great…

I splashed around in the water, trying to move up and out. But the water kept me down somehow. I guess splashing around doesn't help. After a few minutes, I start getting desperate. I've almost run out of breath, and my lungs are burning.

I suck in a huge breath through my mouth, hoping for a miracle. And surprisingly, one happens. I can feel air coming in. Wait, what?

I try again. Same result. Did I just die? Am I dreaming this or something? I press two fingers to the side of my neck, and feel _bubbles._

Bubbles coming out. Did I just develop…. Underwater breathing skills? Gills, or something? That's freaking awesome!

As I let out a few bubbly laughs, I realized that although I could breathe underwater, I couldn't swim anywhere. So kind of useless, since the rest of my life would have me sitting underwater. Just then, I heard a sound. "Something convenient?" I hoped.

It kinda was, but at the same time, it wasn't. I saw a huge tidal wave coming towards me. It was manmade, probably made by that guy who pushed me into the water. I didn't even have time to scream before it hit me, sending me hurtling on through the water.

…A FEW MINUTES LATER…..

It had finally stopped, that tidal wave. I was still underwater, but there was water in my lungs, so I was afraid to try my new "gills" breathing. I heard yelling and got pulled into a boat.

An old lady leaned over me. "Ken, we've got a problem! I don't know if she's breathing!" The lady yelled at her husband.

He looked concerned. "All right, I'll speed back home quickly, Kim."

The lady looked really panicked now. "That's not quick enough, Ken! I have to do something!" So she did CPR on me. She didn't breathe into my mouth or anything, calm down, but she did CPR for like five minutes until I was coughing up water, and throwing up out of the side of the boat.

The lady looked relieved. "Oh sweetie, I'm so glad you're okay!"

Her husband smiled back at me. "We were worried for a second, we were just boating and all of a sudden, there you were! Floating on top of the water."

I try to smile, not knowing what to say. Then the boat bumps into a dock. Not the dock I fell off of, a small one.

"Oh we're home now!" Smiles the old lady.

"Can you walk?" The old guy asks me.

I shake my head "yes," and slowly rise from the boat, and get to land. The couple rises and comes after me.

"Okay sweetie, first things first. We're gonna get you some soup and crackers and dry your clothes, then we'll discuss how you fell in that water," the old lady says gently.

I'm too tired to argue. I just nod, and let them give me a hot shower, (I showered by myself you sickos, they just showed me the bathroom!) let them give me really good soup, and finally, as I drained my third bowl of soup, they smiled expectantly at me.

"Honey, how on earth did you fall in that water?" Asks the old lady, who told me just to call her Gramma.

"Well, I…. was just sitting on the dock thinking when…. Some guy came up behind, and exclaimed "Who the hell are you?" and then pushed me in the water. I can't swim, so I was panicking and not knowing what to do when they launched this wave thing at me, which sent me here, I guess," I told my story. It was mostly the truth, anyway.

Gramps(thats what the old guy told me to call him) glared into space. "Ugh! That guy that pushed you into the water, he owns a big fancy dock. They generate waves so people can surf, he must have shot one at you. Name is Gerald. I hate him."

Gramma patted his shoulder. "I know sweetie, I know." She turned to me. "Years ago when we started our lives here, Gramps tried to boat over there, asking for a boating job, he loved doing that. The guy turned him down, saying he was too old. That guy's always been a jerk, only caring about money and nothing else."

I smile at them. "Thank you for….saving me."

Grammar waves her hand dismissively. "Honey, any nice person would have done the same thing."

"Actually, all the adults I know would have cared less," I say truthfully.

They both look at me in shock. "That's terrible! Even your parents?" Asks Gramps.

I feel tears welling up in my eyes. "My parents are…gone. They've been gone for awhile now."

Gramma looks terribly sad. "Oh sweetie, you're an orphan? I'm so sorry…"

I nod, tears coming out of my eyes.

"Well we'll take you in," Gramps immediately says. That could be a problem.

"Ummmmm…" I stutter. I can't give away my wings, but I can't run away from them when I meet up with the flock again…..

Gramma nods. "Of course sweetie, you'll always have a home with us."

I have to accept. I nod. "That would be….. amazing."

They smile at me. "Sweetie, we've always loved children. But our child…disappeared one day and never came back," Gramma said sadly.

"I'm so sorry," I say.

They shake their heads. "Sweetie, it's not your fault. She was only 19, but she was pregnant and engaged to be married….. the guy was such a nice one, they moved in together….. baby was born, only a few months old, they were happy…. Then one day her best friend went to visit her and said that she was gone. They were all gone, everything was gone. Furniture, the baby, the parents….they never found any trace of them. That was thirteen years ago, but I still think about that every day," sighs Gramma.

Wait a second? Missing parents, robbed, 13 years ago, lost baby….

"Umm…..did you know if the baby was a not or a girl?" I asked suddenly.

They looked surprised. "It was a beautiful baby girl," said Gramps.

_It was me._ I was sure of it. But should I tell them….not tell them…what to do?

I would tell them later, when I got ready to leave. Then I could explain why, and everything would make sense. I just hoped that…. They wouldn't take it too badly.


	27. LEAVING NJ AND GOING TO NY

….SIX DAYS GO BY….. SNOW IS LEAVING TODAY…

I flip another pancake as Gramps walks in.

"Kate, you've outdone yourself! These smell delicious," he smiles.

Yes, I told them my name was Kate. Calm down. I smiled back. "Well today is a very special day."

He smiles and sits down as I give him three chocolate chip pancakes, stacked and covered in butter.

"How is it special?" He asks.

My smile drops a little. "You'll see," I promise him, as I dish out eight chocolate chip pancakes for myself, and another three for Gramma, who walks in. She smiles at me.

"Kate, you eat like a horse! But you're so beautifully thin….how do you do it?" She smiles in wonder.

I smile back as we all start breakfast. "I just have a high metabolism, I guess."

The day goes by too quickly. We go fishing, buy pasta, and play Scrabble, which I've gotten pretty good at. For dinner that night, I cook the salmon we caught and put it with the pasta. It comes out great, but I pick at my food.

"Kate? What's wrong, honey?" Asks Grammar.

"Yeah, you never pick at your food," adds Gramps.

I can't tell them that I'm leaving today… it breaks my heart…" Snow, you have to," I tell myself firmly.

I take a deep breath. "Gramma, Gramps, I'm…. leaving today. After dinner."

Gramma gasps. "Kate, you can't leave! We love having you here. We love you! You remind us of Cindy…." Her daughter…

I take another deep breath. "That's because….I think… I'm your granddaughter."

They stare at me in shock. "The baby….. that disappeared?" whispers Gramps.

I nod. "I was kidnapped…. By evil scientists who gave me these." I open up my wings.

They gasp in shock. Gramma begins crying. "Can it be…..are you really Annie?" She asks me in wonder.

I nod. "I think so…I was told that my parents were robbed and murdered, and I was kidnapped….. it makes sense. And I feel a connection with you guys."

Gramps had no expression on his face. "So Cindy and Andrew…. They were murdered."

I can't nod. I just turn away, sobbing.

"You can't leave," sobs Gramma, her voice sounding strangled. "You're all we have left."

I shake my head. "I have to leave, I'm sorry."

Gramps cries. "No! Please stay!"

I start out the door. "I'm so sorry…."

"No!" They both shriek. In horror, I realize that I have drove two innocent people to madness.

"I'm so sorry," I say quietly and jump and fly away, not looking back.

….A FEW MINUTES LATER…

I fly through the air, my tears streaming behind me like ribbons. I just drove my grandparents insane! I shouldn't have stayed, I should have left earlier, never stayed in the first place…..

Maybe I never should have left the flock…

That's where I needed to go, right now. Back to my family. I hoped they didn't feel too bad about my leaving, and would take me back. I missed them all, I shouldn't have known them that well, I mean I've only known them for what, 3 weeks? But I feel connected to them somehow, I was meant to be with them, I would have always been with them if Jeb wasn't such an asshole….UGH.

Anyway, so time to use my radar scanning GPS thing to find them. Hmmm…..

And I turned it on, I don't know how to describe it, it just turned on somehow and I knew I needed to go north. Actually, they were pretty close, they were in New York. That state right above New Jersey. And I was in New Jersey right now.

Happily, I sped off at 250 miles per hour, hoping to meet them in NYC in about fifteen minutes.

….ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER….

"Wow," I thought as I landed quietly in a tree in Central Park. New York was… just amazing. There were giant buildings that would be so much fun to jump off of, feeling the breeze run through my feathers….. there was food everywhere, and people everywhere, it was awesome! I loved this place!

"Snow. Find your family first. Eat honey roasted peanuts later," I told myself firmly, passing a particularly appetizing looking food cart. But it was cold that day, and I was hungry…..

Five minutes later, I was holding three bags of honey roasted peanuts. God, they were amazing! I chomped on them as I walked, my "flock radar" started to go faster and faster as I got closer.

Finally, as I finished my third bag of peanuts, I went to throw it out in a garbage can next to a big white building, and then my radar thing went off like crazy. I looked around. I couldn't see or hear them.

"Where are they?" I mumbled under my breath. I got closer to the building, until I noticed-

BINGO.

There was a trapdoor thing with a latch, I saw that it had been opened. For some weird reason, they were down there. I got a bad vibe from it, but I trusted Max. So I ran over to the trapdoor, opened the latch, and jumped in.

….

As I landed on the ground, **I squished.**

"Ewww!" I hissed under my breath. I was afraid of alerting something, or someone, down here. I kept walking, squishing softly with every step. Finally, I came to a door that had already been opened.

"Keep on going," I thought and continuing walking. Then I stepped on something, and **it squeaked.** I forced myself not to shriek, and looked down to see a dead rat. Oh crap.

I watched my step, rats looking at me with their beady red eyes. I wasn't afraid of rats or anything. Anyone would have screamed or at least gasped if they suddenly stepped on one though.

Then there was another door, with a lock that had been opened. As I stepped inside, I could feel the floor change from "sewer" to "nice carpet." I smiled, noticing the change until I saw something that wiped the smile off my face.

Cages. Dozens of them. They were everywhere, in small rooms. But there were no kids. At least… no alive ones.

I choked back vomit and tears as I saw a poor boy, about 2 years old, covered in black spots with two toes on each foot, and three fingers total. He wasn't breathing, but his sharp green eyes were still open…..

I quickly moved on, past all the cages. Only dead kids. Where were the live ones? Were there none? Or Max….. Max and the flock probably saved the live ones! They were probably up here somewhere. I spotted a path out of the lab, but as I headed towards it, I noticed a small blue button on the right wall in the bottom left hand corner.

I went over and pushed it. To my amazement, a secret passageway opened up in the wall. I walked into it without hesitating.

I walked down the hallway. Well, it was barely a hallway, just a straight passage. I finally got to a point where there was a door that was slightly cracked open. After opening it, I saw a room made of clear glass. I walked over to the center and looked down, seeing Ari. Meh.

Then came Max and the others with a bunch of kids. It must be the mutants they saved. Ari stepped into their way, laughing meanly.

Max stepped in front of the flock, forming her hands into fists. The she gestured at Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy to take the mutant kids out. (leaving her, Nudge, and Angel)

They couldn't see me, the glass was one way I guess, which was kinda cool. So I could watch everything without them even knowing I was there. But I didn't plan on just watching.

I distinctly heard Ari say, "Max, it's just you. There's no one to help you."

He was somewhat right. Max would keep this as her fight, protecting Angel and Nudge by not letting them fight against the Eraser. But of course, there was me.

I pounded the glass as hard as I could, making a huge crack in it. After pounding it again, it cracked in half. And I fell.


	28. REUNION! FLOCK TOGETHERNESS

"PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT OUT BETTER!" I screamed as I fell eight feet, landing on top of Ari. He fell with a roar of pain. I got up and brushed dust off my jeans. "Actually, I landed right on him. I take that back."

"Snow!" and Nudge, Max, and Angel have me in a group hug. I hug them back.

"You didn't really think I was going to permanently leave, did you?" I smile, rolling my eyes a little.

"I didn't know!" exclaims Nudge.

"What if you couldn't find us?" points out Angel.

I laugh again. "Okay, I have a radar thing inside me that finds you guys. I can always find you."

Angel looks guilty. "I'm sorry I drove you away, Snow."

I shake my head." No sweetie, it wasn't you. Actually, I found some answers on my own-"

"OWW!" Yells Max in anger. She turns to Ari, who has just punches her hard in the stomach. My eyes flare up, and I jump on Ari. I won't tell you all the fight details, but let's just summarize: bloody lip, broken ribs, black eye, blood. And I was fine.

As I turn successfully, I smile. "Let's go, my work here is done." And I start to walk away.

"Snow, look out!" Max yells suddenly, and blocks Ari, throwing him to the ground and stepping on his neck for good measure.

Then we hear the unmistakable 'SNAP!'

And Ari lies motionless. Nudge shrieks, and Angel puked into the wall, which was really gross. Max looked pained, but quickly recovers.

"Let's go, let's go!" She urges us, grabbing Angel by the hand as we all turn and run.

"Max!" The voice of Jeb Batchelder comes from behind us.

I glare in his direction. "Fuck off!" I scream at him.

He ignores me and continues. "Max, you killed your brother!" His voice is full of pain as he cradles the dead Eraser in his arms.

Max stops for a minute, but I grab her other hand and pull her on. We come to a ladder, and start to climb.

"What did he mean?" Max asks, sounding dazed.

"I don't know," I reply truthfully. "I can't read his mind."

"Me neither," adds Angel. We continue climbing in silence, and just get the hell out of that sewer.

Nudge comes out first, then Angel, then Max, then me.

As I come out, I grin. "I know how much you boys missed me," I tease gently.

Iggy laughs and comes over, lifting with up in the air with a hug. "Snow, you're back!" He grins.

I smile back. "Yep, and I've got news to share with you guys."

So I hugged Gazzy, and fist bumped Fang, and then I realized something.

"Fang?" I asked.

He nodded, which meant "Yeah?"

"You have a dog… in your arms," I said slowly.

He sighed, and nodded. Max rolled her eyes. "Apparently we have a dog now."

"Angel saw him and she wanted him, so we got him," Fang added quietly.

"His name is Total," chimed in Angel.

"All right then," I say. I look around, and notice a few different things.

One: We have a dog

Two: Angel has a stuffed animal bear

Three: Everyone has highlights in their hair and new clothes

"Wow what did I miss everyone's so well dressed," I look carefully at everyone.

"Actually, you missed a lot," piped up Nudge.

"Well fill me in," I smiled, extending my wings. Max nods at everyone.

"Ready to fly, guys?" She asks, extending her own wings. They nod, and we take off.

On the way to…. Wherever we're going….. Nudge fills me in on stuff that's happened:

They got free makeovers, discovered a branch of Itex, ate honey roasted peanuts(hey me too!), Max got a voice in her head? That's weird…. Oh, and Angel got that bear by influencing a woman to buy it for her.

I frowned. "I don't think I can influence minds, just read them."

Nudge shrugged. "Oh, I almost forgot. Right after you left, we went to the beach, and went swimming, and Angel discovered that she could talk to fish and breathe underwater!"

I smiled. "Wait until I tell everyone what happened to me."

Max looked back at everyone. "Guys, everyone's been talking about parents, and we got those files….."

"What files?" I interject. Probably something Nudge forgot to tell me.

"We got files about where our birth parents are," Max says slowly. "And I was wondering if you guys wanted to go find them? They all live around Virginia so we can go to DC and start from there."

Everyone looks at Max in disbelief. Then Nudge screams "Yes! Oh please Max, if I find my mom she'll probably be so happy because she thought I was dead but I'm alive!"

"Our parents gave us away," Gazzy said sadly.

"Well maybe they were out of money, and the only way to keep living was to sell us, but it was the hardest decision of their lives," points out Angel.

Gazzy looked pained. "But we don't know that for sure!"

"There's only one way to find out," Angel says seriously.

Finally after a few minutes, Gazzy nods as well. Fang says nothing. Typical.

Iggy looks upset. "But I'm blind now," he said sadly. "And isn't my mom dead? And I doubt my dad will take me back, since me being born led to her death."

"Well if he doesn't take you back, you still have us," Max said firmly. "I don't even know if I have parents, so I'll still keep the flock together. Flock of one and counting."

"I'm staying with you Max," I said immediately. "I found out some things about my parents, and…..well, they're not very good."

Max looks upset. "I'm sorry, Snow."

"It's okay," I said, although it wasn't. I could still picture my grandparent's faces when they went…..well you know.

Max smiled gently at me. "Let's find somewhere to land so you can tell us what happened."

"Okay," I replied unhappily. I wasn't looking forward to reliving the pain, but I knew I needed to tell the flock everything.

….A FEW MINUTES PASS…..

We landed on a beach. Everyone gathered around me as I sat in the sand. Then I took a deep breath.

"Okay," I started and told them everything, starting with flying there and sleeping on the beach, to getting pushed off and discovering gills, and then the man-made tidal wave pushing me out.

**(now Snow's going to actually speak, not just summarize.)**

"Then this old couple saved me, and asked about my story. They told me about their daughter, Cindy, who had disappeared out of nowhere with her husband and baby. I asked what gender was the baby, and they said girl, and I had a feeling it was me, but I didn't say anything yet.

Then they kind of, "adopted me" and I had a great six days with them, they bought me the ingredients I wanted so I could cook, they had a guest room that I slept in, they were nice, but on the sixth day, I knew I had to come find you guys.

So I started the day by making pancakes, eight for me, and three for each of them. We had a great day, played Scrabble, which I was surprisingly good at, went fishing and I caught one salmon, and Gramps caught two.

Then we went to the store and bought fresh pasta, and for dinner I made salmon and pasta, which was really good, but anyway I couldn't eat since I felt bad. So they asked me what was wrong, since I never pick at my food, and I told them that I had to leave, and told them that I thought I was their granddaughter, and showed them my wings.

They gasped and I told them that I had been told that my parents were murdered and I was kidnapped. They didn't know Cindy was dead, and they were sad, then I told them I had to leave, and….. they went insane. Literally insane, you could see something changed in their eyes, it was awful."

And then I burst into tears. "My only family left, and I drove them insane!" Then the flock wrapped me into a group hug, even Fang joined in, and Total the dog laid his nose on my shoulder, and Nudge was crying, too.

"I'm so sorry, Snow!" She wailed along with me.

I realized I forgot something. "Oh I forgot one thing," I said, rubbing my eyes.

"What's that?" Asked Iggy.

"My real name, it's Annie. That's what my grandparents told me when I said I was Cindy's daughter," I said.

Nudge smiled a little, although her eyes were still teary. "My real name is Monique."

Max smiled, too. "I don't know what my real name is, neither does Fang, Angel, Iggy, or Gazzy."

I felt better. "Hey Angel, since we can both breathe underwater, I think it would be really nice if I learned how to swim. Mind teaching me?"

Her eyes shone. "Of course I'll help you Snow!"


	29. FINAL CHAPTER!

So for the next hour, Angel taught me how to swim. Now I could do everything; butterfly stroke, freestyle, backwards, flips, dives, you name it.

Angel laughed a bubbly laugh and I flipped over and over in the water. I loved Angel, she was like a little sister, and we had three of the same powers, if you count flying.

_"Snow?" I heard Angel in my head._

_"Yeah wassup?" I sent her a smile in her mind._

_"Do you think you could help me with reading minds and sending mind messages? I can't send them that far, I don't think, and I can't hear them from that far away either," Angel replied._

_"Of course I'll help you! Okay, the first thing you need to do is really concentrate. Think of the person who you're trying to send a message to. Let's pick," I peeked my head over the water and saw Max, about five miles away. "Max. Okay, so think about Max. Her face, her voice, her hair."_

_I looked over at Angel. Her eyes were tightly shut, and I could **feel **her visualizing Max._

_"Okay, good, now reach your mind out to hear her thoughts. Just concentrate."_

_Angel was concentrating. After about two minutes, her face broke into a smile. "I found her! She's thinking about losing the flock when we find our parents, aww….. poor Max."_

_I frowned. "Okay, do you think you can send her a message? A comforting one?"_

_Angel nodded. I listened in because….I can. And I wanted to see if Angel could do it. _

_"Max, you won't lose us. We love you, especially me. Maybe we'll find our parents, and maybe we won't, but we'll never forget you Max, and we'll always be with you." _

_I smiled. That was really sweet. "Now can you hear her reply, Angel?" I asked._

_Angel listened. "She didn't say anything back….. wait! She did! She said "I know Angel, I love all you guys and I'm just a little sad that the flock is breaking up."_

I sighed. Underwater, it sounded a little weird, but whatever. Angel looks panicked.

"I don't want to lose Max! My parents are probably jerks, they sold us, I love Max! I love her," Angel's voice broke.

I hugged her. "Tell her that. I think she would be thrilled to hear it."

We both burst out of the water, flapping the water out of our wing, and flew back to land.

Angel ran over to Max and talked to her quickly. I smiled at her as Iggy came over to me.

"Hey Snow," he smiled. "Or should I call you Annie?"

I groaned. "I hate that name. If you want to lose a finger though, feel free to call me Annie."

He laughed. I smiled faintly. "It wasn't a joke."

He smiled back. "Oh, I know. It's just great to have you back, Snow."

I smiled. "It's good to be back. I really missed you guys. But I needed the time off."

He nodded in understanding. "It's just… even though you're "new," you…. You seem to be a part of the flock, like you've always been there. And we need all of us together to be a flock. Not just me, Max, Nudge, Fang, Gazzy, and Angel. We need you too."

I smile at his comment. "Don't forget Total."

He glances over at the sleeping Scotty dog lying in the sand. "Oh how could I forget our new dog?"

I go over and pet him. The dog wags his tail, before jumping with glee. That would be normal, and actually extremely cute if he didn't jump **10 feet in the air.**

I gasped in shock, as did everyone except Fang. Of course.

"What the f-" started Gazzy before Max said "Gazzy!" He stopped, but smirked a little.

Total landed perfectly on his feet, before stretching out on the ground, happily sticking his tongue out and licking my hand.

"You got him from the lab didn't you?" I say.

Max nods. "But he looked perfectly normal."

I nodded at him. "He's….. mostly normal."

Iggy laughs. "I think he's cooler that way," and he petted the dog.

Fang, who has been quiet this whole time, speaks. "Do you think he can fly himself?"

Max groans. "I hope not."

Angel giggles as Fang retorts. "Why can't he fly himself? That way I don't have to carry him."

Max shakes her head. "Really? You want a kangaroo, hawk dog?"

Gazzy grins. "That would be cool!"

Max looks to me for help.

"C'mon Max, you have to admit that would be cool!" I insist, and Nudge nods in agreement.

Max rolls her eyes. "You're all crazy," which only makes us laugh harder.

"Hey! Go to sleep guys, we're going to DC in the morning!" Max smiles faintly at all of us.

We all cheer, and I make a bed for myself in the sand by digging out a hole for my body, and one for my head, letting my legs hang out. It's actually really comfortable, and a little sandy, but hey, nothing's perfect. I curl onto my side, can't sleep on my back, and go to sleep, happily waiting for the next day.

END OF BOOK ONE

**Hey Guys!**

**So that's the end of book one! Of course it's shorter since I actually have**

**"Six days later" **

**in my book. I know, lazy. But anyway, I've already started the second book, which I will post as a new story.**

**SNOW THE WNGED GIRL: BOOK TWO**

**Hope you guys enjoyed the first book, and look forward to the second!**

**Fly on,**

**Kate**


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